A New Start?
by debobbumman
Summary: Caitlin and Will Turner live on the streets. They ran away from home, and from their magical school. One day, a strange lady appears in their alleyway. She invites them to Hogwarts. Will this be a fresh start? T for mild language James/OC
1. The City

**First Fanfic: Loved this story in my head, had to write it down somewhere…**

**Chapter One: The City**

It was two o'clock in the morning. I shivered. The rain was coming down hard, and a puddle had formed on the floor under the hole in the roof the rain had been leaking through all night. He wasn't back yet. Usually he didn't come back so late at night. I was beginning to worry.

My name is Caitlin Turner. I am sixteen going-on seventeen, and I live alone with my fifteen-year-old brother. We live in New York City, in a small shack constructed of cardboard, aluminum, newspaper, and garbage bags. There is just enough room for our little makeshift home down an alley in Chinatown, where people generally don't ask too many questions. We've been living here ever since we left school in May. We had to make our way back from Massachusetts to the city with barely any money, food, or help. Our parents deserted us. We're completely alone. Well, we have been for quite some time, not just since we've been homeless.

I can't wait till December. Then I'll be legal. I'll be able to take care of us. Everything will get better. I can't wait to use my magic again.

Oh yeah, and I'm a witch. My brother's a wizard. I attended Salem Institute for five years before leaving. My brother went for four years. Our parents are Muggles. They're also alcoholics. We ran away last year, towards the end of the summer, after being beaten by our father. We went to school for the year, but didn't have enough money for next year. So we jumped ship. Got back to the city on my brother's broomstick. We can't use magic, or the authorities, which are probably looking for us anyway, will find us. I doubt they expected us to come back here, though.

We haven't heard from our parents since running away, nor have we wanted to. We know they live in the city, but we only came back because we know the city. It's always been our home. We don't expect to ever see them again. How the hell they were allowed to adopt two children is beyond me, but they did, and now here we are, on the street with no money, meager nourishment, and nothing to do except scrounge throughout the city and take things from garbage cans, dumpsters, and the like. We try to avoid stealing except when it's absolutely necessary. Even then, we take only what we need. So yeah, life is pretty tough right now. But we scrape through it.

I heard footsteps coming from the entrance to the alleyway. Someone was running, his footsteps splashing through the rain. I knew who it was, and breathed a sigh of relief. Nobody else ever came down this way, and nobody else would be out here in the rain anyway. I sat up from my bed (Newspaper padding, with some sheets stolen from my bed at school) and watched as the garbage bag that covered the entrance to the shack swung aside. My brother Will was standing there, soaking wet, in a rain jacket and sweatpants, but with a forced smile on his face.

"Hey there, got some good stuff from that dumpster up on 8th Street! Half of a muffin. And get this. In a plastic container!" he tossed something that he took out of a plastic bag at me and I caught it while eyeing him skeptically.

"What flavor?" I asked.

He grinned and said, "Chocolate chip."

"Nice one." I reached up and high-fived him, and then dug into the muffin. I hadn't had much to eat today, and we were both growing skinnier by the hour. I was halfway through the muffin when I asked, "Hey, what did you get to eat?"

"I had enough." He replied with another weak smile, and then looked down at his bag, out of which he was trying to dig some dry clothes.

I knew he hadn't eaten, but didn't press him. He deals with hunger better than I do, so I don't object to his method of giving me the better end of the stick when it comes to food. It doesn't help that I'm an extremely picky eater, either.

"Will, it's two in the morning, what took you so long?"

"Had a bit of trouble getting home in the rain. Ended up waiting inside the entrance to a restaurant for about an hour. Besides, you only left about two hours ago to come back here."

That was true. We had been looking in dumpsters until dusk, when it began to rain. That was when I had turned back, but Will had kept going, trying to find us some food to tie us over. Apparently we had gotten lucky.

"Night," said Will, as he rolled over on his small bed. There was barely enough room in the shack for our things and us. We each had one bag, with all of our important belongings in it. They looked like normal backpacks, but were really much bigger on the inside. I had, with some difficulty, pulled of an Undetectable Extension Charm before we had left, enabling us to fit in some bigger things, like Will's broomstick.

"Night," I said back as I finished the muffin and put the plastic container back in the plastic bag. _Who knows, it might come in handy later_, I thought.

I watched him as he fell asleep, his breath becoming even and relaxed. Luckily it wasn't cold yet. It was only the beginning of August. I knew he was acting so positive in order to keep me positive. Truth is, I was becoming more and more reserved every day. We both had always looked out for each other, kept each other safe, and helped each other through bad times. I was having trouble staying motivated, and I knew I was acting pretty morose sometimes. My brother hardly ever lost his temper, which was more than I could say for myself. I knew he resented the way we lived though. He was angry that life for both of us had been so unfair. It had grown to the point where we had to live on the streets, forgo the use of magic, and starve. He just stayed positive to keep me from losing control. I remember flying back from Salem, as we realized that the people around us had ruined our lives especially our parents. We never had too many friends at school. They weren't generally mean u, but mostly just ignored us. The teachers didn't help us at all, and Salem didn't have scholarships, or any way for underprivileged students to attend. I remember what we had both agreed upon as we left everything behind: We would never trust anyone except each other, ever again.

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

**Slightly short first chapter just wanted to set it up a bit. Will get a lot better, hopefully. Please read and review to get me started, it would help a lot. Anyway, I'll try to update this frequently. Be negative if you want, just try to keep it constructive please. Thanks!**


	2. Strange Encounter

**This Chapter Will be longer, seeing as I'm mostly done setting it up…**

**Chapter Two: Strange Encounter**

Caitlin POV:

My brother and I walked down the street until we reached the park. We had found five dollars on the street, and had used two of them to buy some much-needed food. He was munching on a bagel, while I had some corn bread. I noticed how fast he ate the bagel, and felt a pang of guilt when I remembered last night, how he had given me the muffin without a second thought. I was surprised at how easily we were maintaining our lives. I mean, I knew it wasn't going to be a walk in the park, and we had both lost about ten pounds, but we hadn't lost our spirit…yet.

It had been about three months living like this, and we had almost gotten used to it. Living without magic was the hardest part. Once we found out we were wizards, magic had been the best thing in our lives, something to fight towards when we had been stuck at home with the parents. _Gah, gotta stop calling them that_, I said to myself.

After running away from school, we contemplated going back, but decided against it. We simply had no money, and couldn't take it anymore. I mean, magic was great, but that school really sucked. We didn't have much fun there at all. They made magic into a science. We had only theory classes, and the day was so structured that we could never see each other. All of the other kids thought we were weird from the first day of Will's second year, after he showed up with a black eye he got from calling our "father" a failure in life and a dirty alcoholic. From that day forward, we hadn't really talked to anyone, and no one had talked to us. If the school had been more welcoming we probably would have stayed, but no need to dwell on that…

Will and I continued to walk until we reached a small park with a playground. We sat down on the benches and relaxed for a while. It was way too hot today, around ninety degrees. We had bought one bottle of water to share, but had already drained it.

As we sat there in the park, Will asked, "Hey Caitlin?"

"Yeah?" I said as I finished the corn bread.

"After you turn seventeen, and get your magic…"

"Uh-Huh?"

"Then what?"

I had been thinking the same thing lately, but didn't want to make it seem like I had already almost given up on living past December.

"Well, I don't really know. But I can promise you that things'll be better."

He didn't look up, but nodded slightly.

Will POV:

I tried not to look discouraged from what Caitlin had said, but found it hard to not look put out at all. We really had no plan, and couldn't do much living in a shack with barely any money and barely any food. I acted happy, but found myself thinking every day…_what next?_ We didn't know what we were doing. I wished we had real parents, or at least money to go to school. Salem was pretty bad, but wasn't worse than this.

We got up from the benches and began to wander again. I was sweating heavily through my shirt, and realized that the water we drank had done nothing to cool me down. I felt aimless, walking along with Caitlin, as we chatted about where to go to look for food for dinner. I knew we would have to start stealing again. As much as I knew it was wrong, we didn't have many other choices. I was against stealing completely, and so was Caitlin, but we were damn good at it. We had done it three times, each time making off with a wallet with enough money for about two weeks of food.

As I was thinking this, we were walking across the street, and I almost tripped over a cat that decided to run by exactly when the light was turning red. I had to hustle to get out of the way, and the cat, a tabby, by the looks of it, had made it across to the other side. I uttered a loud curse, and turned around, but the cat had vanished.

Uneasy, my hand inched towards my hip where my wand was concealed. Then, thinking nothing more of it, Caitlin and I continued on our way.

Caitlin POV:

We were trudging along Canal Street, through the throng of tourists and subway-goers as Will nudged me. He nodded to the subway entrance, where a man had just emerged and started walking away from us. I immediately saw what Will was looking at: His wallet was hanging out of his back pocket.

I hesitated: "I don't know Will, we don't really need to-" but he was already gone. A few seconds later he returned, walking the other way, back to our alleyway. I resignedly followed him.

The wallet turned out to have over 100 dollars in it. As disapproving as I tried to be, I couldn't help crack a slight smile. We went to a deli and bought some dinner for ourselves, taking care to conserve our winnings, which we would use for weeks without a doubt. Once or twice I got the feeling that someone was watching us. As I looked back, I saw nothing except one time: A flash of orange on a fir escape. It was gone as fast as it came.

I didn't really think much of this, and after putting it out of my head, we continued to walk back cheerfully to the alley, with full stomachs and open minds. This was the first time I had felt slightly happy in a while, although I felt a bit guilty when thinking about how this happiness had come about. We actually had dessert for the first time since leaving Salem. Will talked me into it. We each got small Italian ices, as a treat, for the first time in years. In fact, it was the first treat we had had in years.

The sun had long since set. I looked at my watch and saw that it was nearing midnight. We had arrived back at the entrance to the alleyway, but I couldn't shake the feeling that I was being watched. As we walked down the alley towards our shack, I noticed that Will seemed a little bit jumpy too. I couldn't blame him. It was a bit creepy, living in an abandoned alleyway in downtown New York. As we approached the entrance, a sudden movement caught my eye-

"HOLY SHIT!" Will exclaimed suddenly.

"What, its just a cat!" I replied.

"No, No, No, that's the cat that tripped me earlier. I swear, that's the same little bitch that almost got me run over!"

"Oh calm down, there are probably a bunch of tabby cats just like that one."

But as soon as I said this I knew something was wrong. The cat had been perfectly still since jumping out from behind the shack. It seemed to be…staring at us? But cats couldn't stare, could they?

"Will-" I started, looking apprehensively at the tabby cat with its strange markings that surrounded its eyes…

But the rest of the sentence caught in my throat as those markers morphed into spectacles, the cat grew larger and large, its features distorting and changing drastically, until a stern-looking woman in green wizard robes with a feathered black hat said, "Good Evening, Mr. and Mrs. Turner."

We were done. This lady was from the government; she was going to make us go home, maybe even punish us for leaving school without permission. She escorted us back inside our shack, and ordered us to sit.

"I have been watching you."

I remembered the flash of orange I had seen just a few minutes earlier.

"You are Caitlin and William Turner, aged 16 and 15, from Salem Institute."

This was not a question. It was simply a statement, one that told us that she knew everything about us, and that affirmed her control over the situation.

"My name is Professor Minerva McGonagall. I am the headmistress of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. You two have been living alone for three months now."

Another rhetorical question.

"I am here to offer you a place at my school."

This statement took us both by surprise.

"We dnthfnymoney." Will replied with a weak voice.

"I beg your pardon, Mr. Turner?"

Will looked at me and regained his composure. With a stronger voice he stated, "We don't have any money."

"That won't be necessary."

"What?" we both replied, confused.

"Hogwarts has a fund for students that can't pay for their supplies. Tuition is free." She said this all simply, but her eyes bore into ours, as we stared back at hers, wary of a trick.

I knew I was remembering what we had promised each other, and so was Will: _Don't trust anyone._

"We'll need some time alone to talk." I finally spoke up.

McGonagall stared at us for a long time, and finally said, "That will be permissible. I will be back at 8 A.M. tomorrow to take you both to London."

And with that, she turned and strode out of the shack.

Will POV:

It was 7:30. I had just woken up. I remembered last night vividly. It couldn't have been a dream. I got dressed with some fresh (sort of) clothes and looked over to where Caitlin was sleeping.

We had decided to go with the odd professor lady. While I was still mad at her for tripping me, we both knew that free tuition, supplies, and food was not something to turn our noses up at. However, where could we stay until term started? And where would we go during holidays?

I wondered how we would get to London. A slight yawn from my left told me that Caitlin was waking up. With fifteen minutes to spare, I took my broomstick out of my backpack and looked it over. It needed to be polished, but I was out. I loved that broomstick. I was a good flier, and was one of the best Quodpot players at Salem.

I wondered if they'd have Quodpot at this new school, or if it was just Quidditch. There wasn't much Quidditch in the United States. I had never played before. I pondered until 8 o'clock.

Right on cue, there was a knock on one of the pieces of cardboard that held our shack up. I looked at Caitlin, and she looked back. Then we both slung our bags over our heads, and walked out of the shack together.

McGonagall was carrying a broken pencil. I glanced at it quizzically, but then she said, "We will be traveling by Portkey."

We nodded in acknowledgement, and made to grab the pencil. However, she stopped my hand before it could get there.

She pulled out her wand and waved it carelessly. I started in mild indignation as the wallet we had procured last night popped out of my bag and landed on my head. I took it sheepishly.

"Mr. Turner, I must warn you, stealing is not tolerated at Hogwarts."

I made to hand it to her, but she waved her wand again and it vanished.

"Where-" started Caitlin.

"To its original owner." McGonagall said shortly. "Now, shall we."

We both put our hands on the pencil and, with reckless abandonment, left our world behind.

**Longer Chapter Here… I'm really enjoying writing this story. Please Rate and Review, it makes me feel nice! Also it makes me want to write more. I myself can't wait to see what happens to these two…although I have some idea…**


	3. Dragon Alleyway?

**Please Review! Comment on things you like and things you don't like. Thanks!**

**Chapter 3: Dragon Alleyway?**

Caitlin POV:

We had never really traveled by Portkey before, so the sensation was…different. We ended up completely sprawled on the ground in some alleyway, aching all over. I could only assume that we had reached London. I turned and saw Will on the ground as well, but McGonagall was standing up and waiting for us slightly impatiently. I still didn't trust this woman, and I had a slight inkling that she wasn't our biggest fans. It was probably because of the wallet she had seen us steal.

This made me wonder: Why would the headmistress of a school in England come to America just to recruit two runaways who weren't particularly good at anything? I made a mental note to keep this in the back of my mind, and walked through the door that she was holding open for us.

This door led to a fairly small, badly lit pub. There were a few people at the bar. I could only assume that they were magical. McGonagall headed to the counter, and moments later came back with a homely lady in tow.

"Welcome to the Leaky Cauldron," she said warmly. "You guys can stay here until break is over. I have everything all set up for you two."

Professor McGonagall turned towards us, and without looking either of us straight in the eye, handed us each a letter. Then, she muttered a hasty farewell, walked back out to the alleyway, turned on the spot, and vanished. I thought with a jolt that I would be turning seventeen in four months, and would be able to Apparate.

My attention was then returned to the landlady, who introduced herself as Hannah Longbottom. She explained that she had a room with two beds for us, and that we would be allowed to venture into…Dragon Alleyway? Something like that. It was hard to understand how people talked here. She told us that her husband, also a professor, would be along tomorrow to help us get our school things sorted out.

We went up to our room, and I was still feeling uneasy. I thought about running away right then and there, leaving again and never coming back. I almost voiced this opinion to Will, but he shot me a look that said plainly, _Just wait it out, see what happens_.

I couldn't blame him for that either. It was a bit sad that neither of us really had lived our lives yet, being as old as we were. We realized that this might be a chance to start fresh. But we couldn't hope. Not yet. I remembered. Trust no one.

We were awoken at the ungodly hour of 8 o'clock. Being homeless had at least allowed us to sleep in. A voice floated from the door,

"Breakfast is ready downstairs! Neville will be by to get you two in just a few minutes, Okay?"

We muttered our consent and crawled out of bed. After forcing downstairs and having a bite (We were still ravenous after not eating for quite some time) we were greeted by a tall, round-faced, nervous-looking professor. He greeted us, and introduced himself as Neville Longbottom. Then, he asked if we had our lists and were ready. This led to the awkward conversation that we normally had to make, as we explained our situation. This seemed to loosen him up a bit.

"Not to worry, Not to worry!" He said with a wave of his hand. Then, he dropped a fairly large sack of gold coins on the table. Our mouths hung open, and I had to use my hand to push my jaw back up to its normal level.

I eyed Will, and we walked behind Neville, even if we did so slightly apprehensively. He walked outside to the alley, pulled out his wand, tapped something, and a portal opened for us to step through. A small sound escaped my throat as I gazed out across a bustling alleyway, completely devoted to wizard products. I eyed the school list, and smiled for the first time in a long time. A real smile.

"Welcome to Diagon Alley."

/

I was waiting inside Flourish and Blotts, buried in a book with some wavy-haired British guy on the cover. Something about _Vexing with Vampires_, I don't know. As I was reading, waiting for Will to get back from the Apothecary, and Neville to get back from what he described as "speaking to an old friend who happened to be shopping on the same day," a boy who looked to be around Will's age came up to me.

"Hey there, are you Hogwarts?" he asked inquisitively. I looked up, and saw that I was talking to a boy with jet-black hair. He was fairly tall, and had shockingly green eyes- probably the feature that stood out most. I stared at him calculatingly for a moment, then realized that he had asked a question.

"Yea." I replied coldly, then went back to my book.

"What year?"

"No idea."

"How do you not know?"

I stared up at him with shock, wondering how this kid could've missed the hint that I didn't want to speak with him. It wasn't that I wanted to be mean, I just didn't really want friends. My brother and I would go to school, and take the money by which we could survive. That didn't mean we had to talk to anyone, or explain to anyone about our messy past.

"I'm a transfer." I replied shortly. Then, I got up and strode towards the door. I met Will right at the entrance. He eyed me concernedly, noticing my annoyed expression and saw the boy following us. With a glare, he turned and headed out of the door after me.

/

Albus POV:

I watched as the two kids lefts, one staring at me as if I had done something wrong. I guess that was his sister. I had already paid for my books, and was waiting on Rose, who had to deal with Hugo as well, seeing as our parents were all outside talking to Neville. _Okay then_, I thought, and with a shrug, headed back across the shop.

"Oi, Al!" shouted the voice of my brother. "You have my list!"

I turned back to him and said with a grin, "Sorry Jamie, just didn't want to expose you to reading so suddenly. Your first time hits you hard."

"Oh very funny, I'm the slacker, yeah, yeah, just give me my damn list before I smack you upside the head."

/

Caitlin POV:

I couldn't explain why I had gotten mad at that kid. Or why I had shoved the other black-haired kid into a bookshelf on my way out. I just didn't like it when people asked me questions. As we spotted Neville about 20 yards away, I motioned for Will to follow me, then stopped dead when I realized who Neville was talking to.

It was Harry Potter and his wife Ginny, along with the equally famous members of the Golden Trio: Ron and Hermione Weasley.

My breath caught. I didn't know what to say. Even in America these people were famous. Probably the most famous people in the entire wizarding world today. And here they were, standing and chatting with Neville like he was an old friend. I remembered Neville talking about his friends from when he went to school. _No…That Couldn't…Could It?_ I vaguely remembered something about a Neville Longbottom from when we studied the second war with Voldemort in our Magical History classes at Salem.

Slowly, almost cautiously, we walked up to Neville. I caught a bit of their conversation before they stopped,

"McGonagall's taking quite a risk on them, huh?"

"Yeah, first transfers from Salem they've ever had."

They stopped as they saw us approaching, and a smiling Harry Potter… _the_ Harry Potter addressed me by saying, "Hey there, you two must be the kids Neville's taking around."

Will and I were both shocked, and while we tried to close our gaping mouths, we both muttered something dazedly under our breaths, turning slightly pink.

After giving Harry a weak, half-smile, I addressed Neville very meekly, telling him that we had only robes to pick up now. We already had our wands, and most basic wizarding equipment that we used in America. We walked down the alley a little ways, as the Trio and Ginny gradually parted with us, saying goodbye to Neville and asking him to drop by whenever he could. I looked at Neville slightly awed, and couldn't help notice that he looked slightly self-important. I couldn't blame him. He was friends with Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Weasley? This guy? Then I remembered reading about Neville in History, something about a snake getting stabbed, and I felt slightly stupid that I had been so quick to judge him by his seemingly nervous exterior.

We entered the robe shop, Neville stating that he would wait outside for us. The owner, Madam Malkin, was a fussy lady, who looked almost as far along as McGonagall. She was constantly barking directions to raise our arms and stand up straight. While she was measuring our robes, two kids around our age walked in: A tall boy with blonde hair and pale skin, and a red-haired girl that reminded me of someone. It struck me that here shade of hair was familiar. Then I thought back to the Weasleys, and connected the dots. Later, I would remember the black-haired boy from Flourish and Blotts and connect those dots too, but for now I was just wondering what these two were arguing about.

"Why do you care so much?" asked the tall boy bluntly.

"It just gets weird, Scorp! It's going to lead to something bad!" she replied agitatedly.

"Who cares?" He replied with a pointed yawn.

"Oh, forget it." She said huffily and stormed out of the shop.

"Done. NEXT!" Said Malkin, as she pushed me roughly away with my new robes in hand.

The blond boy stepped forward, and I noticed him being treated just as roughly by the mean robe lady. I was also pondering, sure that I had just seen kids of both Harry Potter and the Weasleys. It was pretty strange. Then it hit me that we would be going to school with them. _Great, _I thought. _I hate famous people._

/

A week later, on the final day of August, dinner was a quiet affair. Will and I had spent the day wandering around Diagon Alley. He wanted me to buy him something from an ice cream shop, but I had taken the rest of our school supplies money and put it in the weird bank run by goblins. It made sense to me, seeing as we only used half of the money (considering we had most of the things anyway) and would need some money locked up for the future.

Anyway, Will knew I was right, but was pretending to be annoyed at me. He kept implying that ice cream would have made a boring day much more pleasant, but I held my ground. I've always been the more responsible one, being older and all. We both look out for each other, but I make more of the serious decisions.

Speaking of serious decisions, our train would leave tomorrow. _I was nervous. What if Hogwarts is just as bad as Salem? What if we have no friends again? What if they think Americans are weird? What if_…I cut myself off. We were doing this, no matter what. It was already decided.

/

Will POV:

I stayed awake long after Caitlin fell asleep. I was happy she'd come round. All week she'd been trying to convince me that this wasn't a good idea, we should run away again, blah blah blah. I myself felt that we might just get lucky this time. I guess you could say, I had a good feeling about it.

I wondered what school would be like. I wasn't worried about how hard it would be. I aced every class at Salem. Caitlin didn't know that. At Salem, they separated witches and wizards (favoring the witches) almost religiously. Another reason to hate it. My mind wandered back to Hogwarts. I wondered how accepting the other kids would be of us. That was the one thing I hadn't really got my hopes up for. I remembered flying back from Salem. _Never again._ Could this actually be what we were looking for? A New Start?

**I liked this chapter, introducing the next gen people…a little Scor Rose action?**

**Please let me know what you think through reviews. Tell me what you liked, disliked, flame me, whatever floats your boat. Thanks!**


	4. Journey and Arrival

**Hogwarts Express! Read and Review!**

**Chapter 4: Journey and Arrival**

Caitlin POV:

This was going to suck. I could feel it. A small part of me wanted to feel hope, and a sense of starting new, but the rest of me felt like it just wouldn't work out. I fought the urge to jump out of the car and run from all of my problems, like we had done so many times before…

Neville had shown up early in the morning, announcing that he would be driving us to King's Cross (Some Train Station in London), where we would board Platform 9¾. Speaking of Platform 9¾, what the HELL is that? A magical train station between platforms nine and ten? What kind of train station has platforms numbered with fractions? We arrived at the train station fairly quickly, and soon Will and I were lugging our single backpacks, looking deceptively empty, towards the station across the street. Will had taken a wizard newspaper from Hannah the landlady, under the pretense of wanting something to read on the trip. I, however, knew that he just wanted to watch the moving pictures.

We paused between platforms 9 and 10. Nothing said 9¾. Will and I eyed each other quizzically. Neville had left for "half a second." He was waiting outside for his wife, who was bringing their kid, a third year at Hogwarts. _I guess that makes me in 6__th__ Year, _I thought. We had called them grades at Salem. _Great, just another thing to get used to_.

We had been instructed by Neville to ask a passing wizard for instructions. However, we couldn't seem to find any. I sighed and Will followed me as I went over to wait for Neville by leaning against a brick wall. I sighed, and prepared for the wall to cushion me as I leaned against it, was unprepared when my body never collided with the brick. With one of the strangest sensations I had ever felt in my entire life, I fell forward, through the wall, and onto Platform 9¾.

"Oh shut up." I snapped at Will, who had just come sauntering through the wall, all of the time laughing hysterically.

However, both of our thoughts vanished from our mind as we looked forward to see a scarlet and black train, steaming, and a platform bustling with people dressed as only wizards would: Full, dark robes from the neck to the ankles. For once I had the idea that we were in the right place.

We must have stood there for minutes, simply staring, when Neville almost collided with us on his way through the wall, or portal.

"Oh, made it through, have you? Excellent. Meet my daughter, Alice. She'll be a few years below you two."

Alice was the one person I'd met for whom I completely let down my guard. She just looked so innocent and so dreamy that I couldn't resist smiling at her.

That smiled vanished when the first horn sounded.

"We'd better go. Thank you Professor Longbottom." I recited hastily, and set off for the platform. Then I realized that Will wasn't with me. I turned back and saw him smiling and talking to Professor Longbottom. Then, he shook his hand and followed me to the train. I noticed some familiar people. The pale boy from the robe shop was having an irritable conversation with his parents. I also spotted many fiery-red-haired-people, all of whom I assumed to be Weasleys. I thought I saw the boy that had tried to talk to me at Flourish and Blotts, but he vanished a second later. I guess I still felt sort of bad about that.

Suddenly, the engine sounded again. Will and I hurried to step onto the train, and found ourselves in a long hallway that broke off into many different compartments. We found an empty one and settled down in it.

I watched as the train slid smoothly out of the station, and as London faded into the countryside, and before I knew it, I was fast asleep.

/

Will POV:

Caitlin had already fallen asleep, about five minutes in. _Great. There goes the prospect of having someone to talk to. Good thing I took that newspaper_. I unfurled the newspaper that Mrs. Longbottom had given me for free and began to read. I found nothing to interesting in it, except the report on a case that had just been solved: That of a mysterious biting pillow found in a Muggle home.

I barley even looked up from the paper when I heard someone come in. It was one of the redheaded clan. She was a girl that looked to be about my age.

"Hey, are you the Turners?"

"Umm…yeah, why?" I asked cautiously.

"Oh I jut wanted to check and see how you're doing. It's your first year right? Transfers?"

I nodded noncommittally and turned back to the newspaper.

The girl continued, "I'm Rose Weasley, and I'm a prefect. Gryffindor. 5th year."

I looked up at that, remembering that I would be in fifth year too. Then I noticed the way she was glancing proudly at her badge. That irritated me just a bit.

"Well, bully for you."

"Okay, well the trolley will be along soon if you want anything to eat. I was just sent by the Head Boy and Girl to tell you to meet up with a big, hairy-looking guy when we get there. He's the groundskeeper, and he'll tell you where to go. You can just leave your bags here, they'll be brought up to the castle."

I wasn't sure whether this was a joke or not, so I merely nodded my thanks, and she closed the door, whipping her hair around and continuing to march down the corridor.

I continued to read for about fifteen minutes, and didn't get anything when the trolley came around. Not only was I not hungry, but I also didn't want to waste money. I did, however, buy Caitlin a Chocolate Wand. She was still sleeping.

I heard another knock on the compartment door, and turned towards it to see a few redheaded kids (_More?_) and two black–haired ones. I recognized one as the boy my sister had been talking to in Flourish and Blotts.

I nodded them in, and the tallest one, with black hair, politely asked if they could sit there, seeing as everywhere else was full, and the prefects had made them find a compartment after running around for half of the trip.

"Sure." I said, before returning to my newspaper.

The trip passed in silence for about a minute until the smaller one that I had seen before asked my name. He seemed to remember us from the bookshop, and continued on to ask where we were from. I answered shortly, and he must have taken the hint that I didn't want to go on about my past, so he started going on about his. He introduced himself as Al Potter, a Gryffindor 5th year, and pointed out his brother, James, who was a sixth year, and was playing an exploding card game with an darker-skinned redhead (Odd combination much?). Al then pointed out Fred Weasley (the dark-skinned redhead), his younger sister Roxanne (another fairly dark-skinned redhead) who was deep in conversation with a silver-haired, older girl who was introduced as Dominique. Lastly, I said hi to Al's little sister, Lily, who waved cheerily in return and went back to her magazine, and Hugo, who looked bored and grumbled something about being hungry. I soon found out the Hugo had a sister that was a prefect. Her name was Rose. It looked as though I had figured out the name of the girl from before.

I was grateful to Al for his recent lack of questions, and we struck up a new conversation. It became clear to me that he was a Quidditch nut, and it also became clear that there was no Quadpot in England. _Oh well_, I thought. _Guess I'll just have to learn Quidditch. How hard can it be?_

As it turned out, it was very easy, considering Al taught me every single rule, foul, regulation, ball, team, and formation there was to know. It seemed to me like Chaser was my position, considering everyone tries to score the ball in Quadpot. This occupied our conversation for about an hour, when everyone started changing into his or her school clothes. I decided to wake Caitlin up, seeing as she probably wouldn't want to be the one person with Muggle clothes on for her first day at our new school. However, I was fairly pleased, as it seemed as though I had made at least one friend on my first day.

/

Rose POV:

I finally finished my rounds in the corridor, and seeing as I was already dressed, went to find Scorpius. Luckily, he was alone, outside his Slytherin compartment.

"Hey," he said jauntily, before kissing me on the cheek. We had been dating for just under a year now, but had told our families only a few months ago. My family was shocked at first, and I took some pretty bad heat for it, but we were a welcoming family, and eventually had Scorpius around for dinner about once a week over the summer. Scorpius' family was apparently less than pleased.

However, Scorpius seemed to have taken a liking to flaunting our relationship in the presence of James and Fred, both of whom I knew would be more than happy to punch him in the face about a million times. _Old rivalries die hard,_ I thought wryly. Strangely, it was Uncle Harry who had been nicest about it. He and Scorpius' dad had…apparently…long since forgiven each other for their childhood…disagreements.

I liked Scorpius, but I was beginning to wonder if he even liked me back that much. Sometimes he seemed to only want to talk when James and Fred were hanging around. I threw this aside for now, though, and after catching up, went to find the Weasley compartment.

/

Caitlin POV:

I had been awake for about a minute, but nobody noticed. Then, when they all got their school clothes out to change into, Will came over and woke me up. Everyone looked over and saw that the weird sleepy girl from the corner had woken up. I counted three girls and four boys. No wonder it had gotten so stuffy. I glared at Will, making it clear that I was mad at him. He glanced back, looking a little taken aback, and then explained that we should go change, as we would be arriving soon.

"What's your name?" asked one of the boys. He was tall, with extremely messy, raven-black hair.

I muttered my name and then made to leave. But he said, "What year?"

"Sixth Year, now can you move your ass so I can get out and change?" I said coldly. He dropped the small smirk he was wearing, looking a little bit put out. _Good_, I thought. _Serves him right. These people ask too many questions._ With that, I strode out of the compartment, almost knocking over yet another red-haired girl on my way out.

/

James POV:

Damn. Just asking a question and she goes and gets all pissy about it. Don't know what that's all about. But her brother seemed nice enough. We all watched her leave, almost knocking Rose over, with an expression of mild disbelief.

"Nice one, mate." Said Fred, grinning and punching me lightly in the stomach.

Will, the girl's brother, got up and followed her out, looking slightly apologetic. Al wished him luck with the Sorting, which we had all explained to him, and I added, "You better be in Gryffindor."

He smiled and thanked us before leaving, carrying both his and his sister's luggage. It struck me as a bit odd that the two of them only brought one small backpack each. There was a lot that struck me as odd about them.

/

Caitlin POV:

I found Will waiting for me by the bathrooms, as I stepped out, wearing my new school uniform. No sooner had I done so than had the train screeched to a halt.

I made to disembark with my bag, but Will held me back. He explained that we would be going with some hairy guy, and that we should leave our bags on the train.

I didn't ask how he knew this. I was still acting a bit mad at him for letting all of those kids in our compartment. I knew it was unreasonable, but I didn't want any friends right now. I just wanted to get through this first night.

We stepped out onto the platform, and immediately heard a gruff voice calling, "Firs' years, over here now, firs' years, form a line…" Will led me over to him.

"Caitlin an' Will Turner?"

We nodded our agreement.

"Professor Rubeus Hagrid. I'm also the grouns' keeper 'round here. You'll be travelin' with us in the boats tonigh'."

We climbed into a boat, sharing it with two much smaller first years, and it immediately set off onto a large lake. I was not a he fan of water travel, and wasn't feeling too great when I heard Will say, "Whoa!"

'Whoa" was right. An enormous castle had risen into view, towering above the lake itself. Our boats steered themselves into a dock, where there was a path leading up towards the castle grounds. Our eyes were fixated on the gigantic structure looming hundreds of feet above us.

The sight was beautiful, but I didn't get my hopes up. Not yet.

**I loved writing this chapter… Please Review! Tell me if I'm doing a good job with the POVs, or anything else I might improve on. Thanks! Sorting Next!**


	5. The First Night

**Get Pumped for the Sorting!**

**Chapter 5: The First Night**

Caitlin POV:

We had entered the castle through two sky-high wooden doors, and met Neville himself in the Entrance Hall. I look around while he talked about school rules and houses, and couldn't help feeling impressed by this vast, grand structure.

All of a sudden, he announced that it was time for us to be "Sorted." I wondered how that would be done.

What I was not prepared for was to be sorted in front of the whole entire freaking school! We had walked through the door right across from the entrance, and I had been greeted by a mass of staring eyes that made me want to shrivel up and disappear.

We walked down the middle of the hall, in between the tables. I found many eyes flickering between me and Will, and whispers floated through the hall. That was to be expected, I guess. After all, we were older than all of the little munchkins that were surrounding us.

Neville had placed a stool at the front of the hall, and then he produced what looked like a shriveled-up, very smelly hat that had been around for a long, long time. The hat began to sing. I vaguely wondered whether or not this could be a joke, or a test, but then I considered the situation and threw caution to the winds. After all, _everything_ here was weird.

With an inward smile, I watched as names were called in alphabetical order. Students simply put the hat on their head, and it shouted one of four weird words. The list went from A-S in a flash, and then all of a sudden Neville announced,

"Turner, Caitlin."

Will squeezed my hand in encouragement, and I walked slowly up to the stool, feeling hundreds of eyes burning multiple holes in the back of my neck, which had, along with my cheeks, turned a deep shade of pink.

"Well, Well. Looks like I have my first American to be sorted."

I looked around for the source of the voice, and then realized that nobody could hear it. It was coming from inside my own head.

"Let me see here, you are smart, witty, and oh my, slightly sardonic. Looks like you would make a good Slytherin."

If possible, I snorted inside my head.

"Oh, no? Why not? Do you even know anything about Slytherin?" A hint of derisiveness had crept into the hat's voice.

Truth be told, I did know about Slytherin. This was the house of the bad guys, or so it had been generally accepted in our History class. I mused that I could be cunning sometimes, if I wanted to, and possibly slightly sarcastic. However, I could feel that Slytherin wasn't the place for me. Besides, green was _not_ my color.

"Well, then, let me see here. It seems to me that your most defining qualities are your courage and your loyalty to family."

I thought about Will, and knew instantly which house he would be in. I couldn't bear being separated from him like we had been at Salem.

_Yeah, that, I guess._ I thought to the hat.

"Well then, better be-"

"GRYFFINDOR!"

The last word was shouted for everyone to hear. The table that I noticed was most red (in the hair, not just the color) leaped up and applauded me loudly. I saw a couple kids we had met on the train whistling. Almost smiling, my cheeks bright red, I made my way to the table, sitting with all of the first years. I wondered fleetingly why they had clapped so loudly, and then realized that we were the first transfers ever from Salem. It must have been a house pride thing, to have the first American to be sorted in your house.

I turned my attention to Will, whose name had just been called. He strolled up to the front without a care in the world, and sat down on the stool.

/

Will POV:

After sitting down, I turned to the crowd and smiled winningly. I already knew which house I'd be in, especially after listening to the song. I thought I was smart, but not obsessively so. Hard-working? Under the right circumstances, maybe. Eh. Cunning and Sardonic? Sure, when I need to be. Do I use those traits like a Slytherin? No. There was only one house that was right for me.

The hat spoke to me inside my head, taking me by surprise.

"Ooh, another American, its my lucky day!"

_Yea, all right buddy. You know what to do._ I thought with a confidence that surprised even me.

"GRYFFINDOR!" The word was shouted out for the entire hall to hear. The table that Caitlin had sat down at erupted once more, if possible, they cheered even louder. I smiled. It looked as though I had made some friends on that train ride after all.

I smiled at Neville, and then walked over to sit down next to Caitlin. She gave me a high-five under the table, and whispered, "Nice one. I knew you would be would be here. The qualities are definitely you."

I smiled and said with mock indignation, "You're forgetting. Orange is my color!"

She laughed, and we turned our attention back to the front of the room, where my favorite cat-lady was standing. She said to the suddenly quiet room,

"Well, let us begin."

And food appeared on the table in great quantities, and even as my mouth dropped I began shoveling it onto my plate, and pouring an orange liquid into my goblet, and the things that followed were too wonderful to describe…

/

Caitlin POV:

I was hungry, but apparently not quite as hungry as Will was. He was shoveling so much food into his mouth that he couldn't talk, or even breathe. I was pleased at how much food had appeared that I actually liked, considering that I didn't like too many foods at all.

I was halfway through my dinner when the two dark-haired boys from the train came up to us.

"Good one, mate. Knew you had it in you." Said the smaller one, addressing Will. The taller one congratulated him as well, then turned to me and said,

"Sorry about earlier on the train there."

"Erm—okay." I replied somewhat lamely.

"Caitlin, right? Caitlin Turner?"

"Yea," I replied. I wasn't fooled at all. I knew he hadn't forgotten my name from the train ride. But I did feel a little bit bad about earlier.

"I'm James. James Potter."

I nodded, concealing my recognition of his surname, and he walked back to his friends. The other one turned to me and said, "And I'm Al. Nice to meet you."

I smiled and said hello. Again, I felt bad about snapping at him in the bookstore, but it seemed as though all was forgotten. I was shocked at how welcoming these people were. It seemed as though we were automatically considered friends. _What a strange way to live_, I thought, as Al walked back to his seat.

The feast was over. Professor McGonagall stood up and once again addressed the hall.

"Well, now that we are all full and sleepy, I have a few start-of-term notices to be considered. Welcome to another year. Students should be notified that the forest on the grounds is off-limits. You should all take care to avoid the Whomping Willow, if you do not wish to die a gruesome death. Our esteemed caretaker, Mr. Argus Filch, would like to announce that Forgetfulness Flowers and Daydream Charms have been added to the list of banned items, along with all other Weasley Wizard Wheezes product."

Her eyes lingered over our table for just a moment.

"For the full list, please consult Mr. Filch in his office. And now, off to bed. First years please follow your prefects to your respective dormitories."

I got up, wondering if that included us. A ways down the table, the redheaded girl I had knocked over on the train was shouting for the first years to follow her. Will and I headed over there as well.

"Oh." She said rather coolly, eyeing both of us. "You two can follow me to the dorms as well."

So we set off, up a winding staircase that led to even more stairs. These ones seemed to be…alive. Some were drifting, and others were changing positions altogether. I shook my head in disbelief, and then realized how hard it would be to get to class like this. We kept following the girl named Rose to the top of a tower, and finally reached the portrait of an extremely Fat Lady, who was singing merrily to herself, and looking a bit tipsy.

"Fortuna Semper." Rose spoke aloud in random Latin. I looked at her quizzically, but then realized that the portrait itself had sung open, revealing a brightly lit room with several tables, couches, and chairs, with adjacent staircases at the other end.

We entered the room, not really sure of what to do. Then, Al came over and introduced us to his entire family (about 10 people). I was glad to feel welcome, but also felt shy, like I shouldn't really be there. Eventually, I headed up to bed. I was sleeping in a dorm with the other sixth year girls. As soon as I entered, I saw five girls hanging around one girl's bed. They were talking about something. _Hmm, _I mused. _What could that be?_ When they noticed me, two of them came over and said hello warmly. One introduced herself as Sydney, and the other was Arianna. They also introduced me two the other three: Tara, Eve, and Hope. The nodded their hellos, and met my eyes only briefly.

_Oh well. I guess not everyone will be that nice._ I got changed and climbed into an extremely comfortable bed, a completely new standard for myself.

I couldn't help hearing, even with the hangings drawn, the whispers of some of the other girls. I caught to words. Salem, and weird.

_Well then_, I thought, as resentment filled me once more. _Way to be subtle._

/

Will POV:

I had had a pretty good night. Al and the Weasleys had welcomed me with open arms, and I had stayed up, talking, for a good while after Caitlin left.

They talked loudly and jovially. I soon learned that the sixth-year boys, James and Fred, were notorious for their ability at troublemaking. That was something I respected. I also learned that James was a Chaser, and the captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team. Rose, as I had immediately figured, was less fun. She was a prefect, and was very interested in school. They all kept teasing her about someone named "Scorpius." Rose had almost endless questions about Salem, most of which I deflected awkwardly. Lily and Hugo were best friends, and were laughing over something at the end of the room. They were in their third year at Hogwarts. The other Weasley Gryffindors were Dominique, or Dom, who was in her seventh and final year. Roxanne, was in her fourth year.

I got ready to turn in, and Albus (Which was his full name, one he didn't like being called) accompanied me to the dorm we were sharing with the other 5th years. He introduced me to all of them: Devon Thomas, Jasper Peakes, Joey Ritcher, and Preston Runcorn. Devon, Jasper, and Joey got up and shook my hand, but Preston stayed seated and merely nodded.

_Oh, well_, I thought. _Can't win them all._ I climbed into bed, and while falling asleep, reflected on my first day. I came to the conclusion that this place wasn't so bad. I had made a few friends. For a minute I had to adjust to the fact that I had just met the kids of the Golden Trio. Who would've thought it? I was a bit worried about Caitlin, but I still hoped she would come around to this place.

I went to sleep happily, knowing that we had made the right choice.

**Okay…Now that that's over, the story can go on! Please review! Tell me what you liked, what you didn't like, even if you know you won't come back. If you have predictions or suggestions, please share them! I would love to know what you guys think, and I want to be able to improve my writing and the story as much as possible. **

**Thanks for reading!**


	6. Teacups, Unicorns, and Slytherins

**Another Chapter! Read and Review!**

**Chapter 6: Teacups, Unicorns, and Slytherins**

Caitlin POV:

I was up early, ready for my first day. My plan was basically to go about my day normally, while keeping my head down and avoiding attention. I could only hope that this would work, especially with people as…loud…as the Weasleys around me.

I had to admit, I sort of liked the Weasleys, but I didn't want to show it. I don't know what it was, but there was something inside of me that wouldn't let me open up to anyone. Maybe I was afraid of being hurt. Again. I was also scared for Will. I had looked after him all of this time, and while I wanted him to be happy, I also wanted him to be very close to me so that I could keep an eye on him.

I rolled out of bed, showered and changed, and before I knew it, was heading down to breakfast with Sydney. I liked Sydney perhaps the most out of any of my new acquaintances. I also got the sense that she wasn't friends with many of the girls in our dorm, so that was also a plus. Sydney didn't ask me questions; she didn't even ask to be my friend. She simply joined me walking down to breakfast and sat with me, without a word.

I started talking to her a little bit, just to be nice. To be clear, I'm not a mean person. I'm just not as trusting as…well…some people. It makes sense, if you think about it. Everyone who I've put my trust in has failed me. Except Will. He and I are from the same boat. We both have always been pretty mistrusting, but I guess I'm more so.

Midway through our breakfast, Will and his friend Al walked downstairs and sat across from us.

"Sup, sis?" he said cheerily as he bit into a doughnut.

I didn't respond, as my attention was on Neville, or Professor Longbottom, who was handing out schedules to everyone at the Gryffindor table. As I received mine, I found that Sydney and I would be taking all of our classes together.

I was taking, at the N.E.W.T. level of course, Potions, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Transfiguration, Herbology, Charms, Arithmancy, Astronomy, and Ancient Runes.

Will was talking excitedly to Al, and from what I could tell; they had similar schedules as well. I was glad that he had made a friend, but sort of annoyed that it had to be one of the Weasleys. Just being around them made me feel like I was being loud…

/

Will POV:

Excellent. I was taking Potions, Transfiguration, DADA, Charms, Herbology, Astronomy, Care of Magical Creatures, and History of Magic. In short, basically the same subjects as Al. These course names were weirding me out though, in Salem they had been much different. Transfiguration and Charms were combined-it had been called Enchantments. Care of Magical Creatures was simply called "Beasts." History of Magic was just History, and Potions was Potionry.

I bid farewell to Caitlin after breakfast, and followed Al, who led me to the classroom where we would have our first class-Enchan-Wait, no, Transfiguration.

Our dorm mates and Rose soon joined us, among other people whom I didn't know. Devon and Joey had been very friendly so far, but Jasper was quiet and Preston hadn't spoken to me at all. Rose had spoken to me, almost a little bit too much. No, on second thought, waaay too much. I gathered that she was the "best in the year," as they called it. We'll see, I thought with an inward smile. I was top of the class at Salem. I guess not really having any friends _had_ been good for one thing after all.

We entered the classroom as the bell rang, and were met by a kind-faced professor that introduced himself as Professor Macmillan. His expression soon became stern as he lectured us on the importance of the coming year. The Professor also explained that it would be his last year teaching us, as the Headmistress generally took all of the N.E.W.T. classes. He went on and on about O.W.L.S., and then we split up to attempt to transfigure small beetles into buttons. I got the feeling that this was mainly to assess where _my_ skills were, and was pleased to see that I successfully performed the switch. In fact, Rose and I were the only two who actually managed a complete Transfiguration. Smiling at Al's look of disbelief, I slung my bag of the shoulder and left, heading to Charms class.

I did in fact know about O.W.L.S., as they were the internationally accepted standardized wizarding tests. I was also pleased that, while Salem had sucked big time, it hadn't been lacking in academics. Therefore, I was right on par with the present fifth years at Hogwarts.

Charms consisted of a similar lecture from a different teacher, a witch that introduced herself as Professor Clearwater. She lectured us, an once again, we split into pairs to attempt to make a teacup dance.

After Charms came lunch. _Not a bad first half, I mused._

/

Caitlin POV:

_Crappy first half of the day,_ I thought. I was heading to lunch, with Sydney right behind me. Potions had been a sorry affair, ending with an amoeba-like object swirling around in my cauldron for half of the lesson.

DADA had not been much better. Taught by one Professor Creevey, I had some trouble with nonverbal spells, as I had not practiced them before. Luckily, everyone else did as badly as me. That included Fred and James, who had spent the lesson throwing sparks at each other and running around while the teacher's back was turned.

I walked into the entrance hall. _Oh, great._ Will was sitting with Al and a group of the Weasleys. I pondered for a minute whether or not I should sit there, but ended up thinking, _what the hell. I'm in Gryffindor, right? I can deal with it._ I plopped myself down next to Will, and Sydney sat next to me. From across the table, I heard James say with what he thought resembled charm,

"Well hello, ladies."

My eyes rolled to the sky. However, I couldn't help but notice Fred glancing covertly at Sydney, and then quickly looking away. Keeping this in the back of my mind, I answered, "Pretty crappy," when Will asked me how my day had been so far. He prodded me forward with a questioning glance, and I elaborated slightly.

"I hate Potions." James, apparently found this comment absolutely hilarious, as he laughed loudly. I glared at him and resumed talking with Will. He said his day was pretty good, but then Al leaned forward and spoke across him,

"Your brother didn't tell me he was a bloody genius. I get enough of that with Rose over there. Speaking of Rose, Hey, Rose!" he shouted. "Looks like you got some competition this year, eh?

"Well its sure as hell not coming from you, is it?" She snapped back ferociously.

Al looked taken aback, but retained his grin. "Blimey." He muttered, and then looked at Will. The two of them burst out laughing.

I couldn't help but crack a small smile. As far as this group went, Al was by far the best. Even as I smiled, I heard that voice I was starting to hate say,

"Well, well, the ice queen beginning to melt? Impossible."

James and Fred shared a smirk, and with a huff of indignation, I got up and stalked out of the hall. Sydney followed me, but she herself was wearing a good-natured smile. Even so, she looked so dreamy, like her mind was somewhere else, that I couldn't be mad at her. _Well, at least I have one friend. That's a good number. Not too many. Don't want to spread myself too thin._

/

Will POV:

By far the most eventful part of the day was Care of Magical Creatures, our last class, and what occurred right after it.

I was surprised to see, upon following Al out of the castle and onto the grounds (which I hadn't seen much of), that the hairy giant-man would be teaching us, as we were headed straight to his small, wooden cabin.

I voiced some slight concern about this to Al. He defended Hagrid passionately, saying he was the best teacher ever, and also an awesome guy.

While he was saying this, Rose passed us. She said, "Not the best teacher ever, but definitely a nice person." I noticed she said this quite sniffily. Ugh. She walked past us, hand-in-hand with that tall kid from the robe shop, who I took to be her boyfriend. I saw Al cast them both a very ugly look, and decided not to pursue the subject.

As we reached the steps to the hut, Hagrid spoke up loud and clear to both the fifth year Gryffindors and Slytherins.

"Righ', now I got a real treat for you today. Jus' follow me, we'll be goin' a ways into the fores' now, not too far, mind you."

He led us around his cabin and through the supposedly "Forbidden" Forest." We had gone only a short ways when we reached a small paddock, where we were met with a wonderful sight. There were two unicorns in the paddock, facing us expectantly. One was fully-grown, by the looks of it. It was silver, and had a longer horn. The other was a golden color, and had a very small horn protruding from its forehead. Hagrid taught us all about them, while I looked on in awe. We had never down anything this awesome in our classes in America. I looked at Hagrid, and saw him glance at the creatures with immense pride and excitement, and decided that I liked this guy.

He let us approach the unicorn and feed them, but only the girls could approach the fully-grown one. That was fine with me, as that horn was looking increasingly majestic. And dangerous. We observed them for a while, and were assigned a short essay on the effect women had on unicorns as opposed to men.

We walked back up to the castle, ready for dinner. I sat away from the Weasleys this time, knowing that Caitlin was slightly annoyed with them. I would agree that James Potter seemed fairly stuck-up, however the amount of sexual tension between them already was almost tangible. I could actually _feel_ the awkward in the air.

I was introduced to Sydney, who seemed very nice. I was glad Caitlin had found someone to hang out with. She had, however, also insinuated that the rest of the girls in their year were complete bitches.

After dinner, I asked Al to show me the way to the common room, as I still hadn't figured out all of the twists and turns of the castle. The stairs really weren't helping by moving around, and the portraits were making everything confusing by shouting at me.

As we walked down a hallway, I was deep in conversation with Rose and Al when I was knocked to the ground by a blunt force that had rammed into my side. I got up, extremely annoyed, and found myself standing face to face with three fairly… large… Slytherins. They looked like seventh years.

The one in the center faced me down, trying to push me so that my back would be against the wall. I held my ground. On the street, you never back down. That's how the predators sense their victims, by the fear they see in them. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Al and Rose standing, rooted to the spot with fear in their eyes. I stared back upwards, defiant.

The Slytherin spoke in a deep, slightly raspy voice.

"Just so you know, punk. American transfer? Same as Mudblood in my book."

His nose inched closer to mine, but I held my ground. Then, eyeing him up and down with obvious distaste, I shot back derisively,

"Just so _you_ know, big boy. Fat…Stupid…Slytherin? Same as Death Eater in my book."

His face turned red, and I saw his hand clench. However, Merlin smiled upon me that night, as Professor Macmillan came out of his classroom, and began walking towards us, apparently heading back to the great hall. He caught sight of the three Slytherins facing down the three smaller Gryffindors, and spoke loudly addressing the biggest Slytherin.

"Is there a problem here, Mr. Flint?"

"No…Professor." He muttered almost inaudibly, then walked back the way Macmillan was heading. I breathed a sigh of relief, and turned to look at Rose and Al, whose legs had grown roots. They looked at me with disbelief, and something almost like...awe? It was my turn to grow red, as we headed back to the common room.

/

The story spread quickly throughout the common room. I quickly gathered that Flint was the seventh year Quidditch Captain for Slytherin. Being Gryffindor's Captain, James was the first to wring my hand and congratulate me, along with Fred. I also learned that tryouts for the team would be held on Saturday, and my luck continued, as they mentioned something about a Chaser spot being open.

I was in a great mood as I sat down to do my homework, which was extensive, that night. Not even a full day in, and we already had an essay for Transfiguration, a labeled drawing for Herbology, a short essay for Care of Magical Creatures, and practice for Charms.

I reflected back on the day's events, and once again thought with a rising hope…_this place really isn't all that bad._

**Please Review! Tell me what you think, and what you think could be better. Also tell me your ideas! This story is completely planned yet! I would love to hear all of your ideas and criticisms. Thanks! And a Special Thanks to ILoveBooksForever for the Review!**


	7. Quidditch Tryouts

**Chapter 7: Quidditch Tryouts**

Caitlin POV:

The rest of the week passed without much issue. I was becoming very friendly with Sydney, improving in my classes, and was excited for our first weekend at Hogwarts. I found it a bit hard, adjusting to school after so much time away from it, but I was coping.

I was pleased after receiving E.s on most of my homework that week, and had also managed to spend as little time as possible with the other girls in my dorm or the Weasleys (the latter being harder to do because of Will). Will had told me that he was trying out for Quidditch, and I had decided to watch the tryouts on Saturday.

I wouldn't be surprised if Will made the team…he was always a natural flyer at Salem. I couldn't say the same for myself. Either way, I was excited for him, and life at Hogwarts was looking up. James and Fred had even been slightly respectful towards me the past couple of days. I still pretended like I didn't notice the awkward glances between Fred and Sydney, but they were definitely there. I found Fred actually funny sometimes, when he was in the common room, but James was more of a nuisance. It didn't really matter, considering we didn't talk much, even though we took most of our classes together.

On Saturday, I walked downstairs with Syd and Arianna. Arianna had been fairly nice, though she was friends with Tara, Eve, and Hope and hung out with them most of the time. I saw Will eating with Al, away from the rest of the Weasleys. I noticed that James was absent from the table altogether. Then I remembered his Captain duties, and realized he would already be down at the field (or pitch?).

I sat down next to Will, who was laughing about something with Al. I usually didn't have to calm him down before things like these. There were things that he got nervous about, but Quad-or Quidditch, wasn't one of them.

/

Will POV:

I was laughing as Caitlin, Sydney, and Arianna walked in and sat down. Al and I had been laughing hysterically at the prospect of McGonagall wearing a dress. We sobered up as the girls sat down.

Al was also trying out (for Seeker). He had been on the team for two years now, and wasn't worried about this tryout at all. I might have been a little bit nervous at first, but I was calmed down when I realized the expectations wouldn't be very high for a person who barely even knew the sport. That being said, Al had been coaching me vigorously over the last couple of days, and I had come to realize that playing Chaser in Quidditch wasn't that different and wouldn't be too foreign to me.

We had sat away from the rest of the Weasleys to avoid being completely distracted. Quidditch was a mental game as much as it was physical, along with any other flying sport.

When the time came to go out to the field, I raced up to our dorm, grabbed my broomstick (A fairly impressive, though slightly outdated, Nimbus 2015), which was probably the most expensive thing I owned, jumped out of the window, and coasted down to the Quidditch pitch.

As tryouts began, I caught sight of Caitlin and Sydney in the stands. A fierce excitement rose inside of me, as I felt that familiar feeling that gave me the urge to impress…

/

Caitlin POV:

Watching from the stands, I was fuming. James had come up to me and asked me if I was trying out. I had explained that I would be sitting in the stands, but he didn't seem to drop it. He kept asking if I played Quidditch, and persisted asking me about America until the tryouts started. _Why is everyone here so damn nosy?_

I didn't understand much, but Sydney helped me out, and I got the basic gist of things.

The first position to be tested was the Seeker, and Al clearly outflew and outmaneuvered everybody. I found out that he had been on the team last year. After the Seekers came the Beaters, and their tryout consisted of many incompetent players swinging their bats, attempting to hit James with a ball. Only a few of them succeeded. Fred would be one of the Beaters, also returning from last year, though I didn't know who the other would be (the teams would be read out in full after everybody had gone). At Keeper, Hugo had tried out, but was not the best of the bunch. I felt slightly bad for him as he headed back to the ground, looking disappointed.

Finally, the Chasers were up. I caught sight of Will mounting his broom confidently, and kicking up into the air in front of James, along with at least a dozen other people.

"Alright, give me a quick lap around the pitch, try not to fall off please!" Shouted James, and they set off.

At least five kids were turned away, as their flying had been horrible. Now only seven remained. I recognized Tara and Hope among the seven that remained.

James put them through numerous drills, and finally gave each of them five reps at the goalposts, with Beaters attempting to bludgeon them out of the air. Hope performed well, but Tara had the Quaffle knocked out of her hands multiple times. I also noticed a dark-skinned boy that was one of Will's roommates flying well. Finally, the last one to go was Will. He flew niftily in between Bludgers and James, and put away all of his shots. On the last one, he even feigned a shot at one goal, and then shot it behind his back at the opposite one. I smiled, having seen him pull that move at Salem. Everyone else was shocked. They had, apparently, not seen anything of the sort.

After the Chasers, everyone landed in the middle of the pitch. James made a quick speech thanking everybody for trying out, and lamenting that he only had so many spots to fill.

Finally, with a magically augmented voice so that everyone in the stands could hear, he read out the team.

"Seeker- Al Potter!"

"Keeper- Audrey Bailey! (A seventh year, returning for her third year on the team)"

"Beaters- Fred Weasley and Chloe Midgen! (A fourth year in her first year on the team)"

"Chasers- James Potter, Devon Thomas, and Will Turner!"

I clapped loudly for Will, and he turned to the stands, giving me a thumbs up. _Yeah, represent_, I thought. _ Those Brits won't know what hit them!_ He seemed to have gotten the message.

/

Will POV:

Grinning from ear-to-ear, I entered the locker rooms. James had asked the team to stay behind so he could go over plays, practices, and matches. There were only three matches during the season, one against each house. We would be competing for the Quidditch Cup that currently belonged to Slytherin. _Excellent_. I had grown to dislike Slytherin, as most of its members were stuck-up, racist, or extremely stupid.

The one that I didn't know was the Scorpius Malfoy kid that Rose was dating. Al, Fred, and James hated him with a passion, and that was good enough for me. I did sort of like James and Fred. They were loud, and could be obnoxious at times, but even when I was hanging around them with Al, they never questioned me about my past.

James had finished talking, and he and Al came up to me to congratulate me. I was also happy that Devon had made it, as he was a good kid, and was also good at Quidditch. I had noticed Caitlin's roommates looking very put out when my name was called.

We were walking back up to the castle, talking about Quidditch and other things, when James asked me, "What's the deal with your sister?"

Warily, I returned fire. "What d'you mean?" I realized this might have come across as slightly abrasive, because James looked almost alarmed. Then he realized that I was just being protective, and his expression softened to a grin.

"No, I mean, she just doesn't seem to like me very much, that's all."

"Or anyone else," Fred put in.

"Well, she probably finds you both a bit…_loud?_"

They both laughed.

"No, I mean, she's just hard to get to know sometimes. But once you do, she's an awesome person."

They looked satisfied, and I was glad I had avoided a bout of awkward questioning.

/

On Sunday morning, after breakfast, Al asked me if I would like to come see Hagrid with him for tea.

"He just lets you come into his house and have tea?" I said with a bit of shock. After all, Hagrid was a professor. Also, I wasn't quite used to the whole "tea" aspect of British people.

Al grinned and explained that Hagrid had been friends with his Dad when he had gone to Hogwarts. I had my usual reaction: Pretending to be shocked at the mere mention of such a famous person's name. He punched me on the shoulder and then we set off across the grounds. We had to go down a hill to reach Hagrid's hut, which stood right on the lip of the Forbidden Forest.

Al knocked on the door, and Hagrid let us in with a cheery expression. He was whittling a flute, and he set the table for three.

Al introduced me, and Hagrid said with a chuckle,

"Righ, I know this one. From Salem, huh? Been treating that finger?"

He was referring to one of our first classes, in which I got a nasty gash on my hand from a Bowtruckle.

Al explained that I had made the Quidditch team, and Hagrid congratulated me, assuring us that he, as a teacher, wouldn't root for Gryffindor, with a wink. He and Al discussed last year's cup, which had ended in victory for Slytherin and pain for Gryffindor. Al stopped talking with a savage expression.

Hagrid broke off, and hastily said, "Uh, rock cake, you lot?"

Al declined, but I took one to be polite.

Big Mistake. Huge._ I think I might have dislocated a molar._ I commented on their tastiness, while rubbing my jaw. Hagrid look pleased, while Al sat behind him, shaking with silent laughter.

We talked for a while longer, and then headed back up to the castle. I did like Hagrid; he was a nice guy, if obsessive about creatures at times.

"Couldn't have warned me about those cakes?" I asked Al with indignation.

We walked back up to the common room, and as soon as we entered the portrait hole, I was met with a shocking sight.

Caitlin and Sydney were sitting on a couch.

They were…talking. To the Weasleys.

/

Caitlin POV:

It all happened so fast. One minute Syd and I were on the couch, finishing our essays for Potions. The next, James and Fred asked politely to sit across from us. I had nodded my acceptance, and four other redheads joined them. I had long since finished my essay, but Syd was still working so I couldn't leave her there.

Eventually, they struck up a conversation with me. They didn't ask me any questions or do anything irritating, we simply talked about school and teachers and normal stuff.

Even after Syd finished her essay, we stayed down there, bashing teachers and making fun of other kids. Then, Will and Al walked in. They saw me sitting there and grinned, walking over.

"Well, well, what do we have here? Looks like all that ice might actually be melting." Will said in a great imitation of James' voice.

We all laughed, and I sat there for a while longer before leaving to go up to bed.

As I left, I heard a snippet of the conversation between Will and James:

"So, finally broke through that exterior, huh?" I didn't know what to make of this, so I decided to store it in my mind, and walked up the stairs to my dormitory.

**I was pretty happy with this chapter, though it was kind of short. Please review! Tell me what you liked, tell me what you didn't like, tell me what you think should happen, tell me anything! At least drop a review for seven chapters in seven nights! Thanks a lot!**


	8. Rumor Has It

**Please Review!**

**Chapter 8: Rumor Has It**

Caitlin POV:

Well, it seemed like the first few weeks had gone by seamlessly. Will and I had been, for the first time in a long while…happy. I was becoming closer to Sydney, and had even struck up a tentative friendship with James and Fred. I think this had let the whole school know that I wasn't actually a bitch, and they started being a little nicer to me.

That was before this week. I don't know how it had gotten out. Either way, rumors were flying. They were about Will and me. All of them were different, but they all seemed to accept the basic "fact" that we had been kicked out of Salem.

How humiliating. I couldn't walk anywhere without being surrounded by a barrage of whispers, most of them unkind. The most annoying part was that I could actually hear what they were saying. I remember seeing James, Fred, Rose, and Albus all talking quietly, heads together, in a hallway. This had been too much for me. I ran to the library, and cried softly into my hands in a dark corner.

I had taken to spending most of my time in the library. I wasn't bothered by many people. Only Sydney visited me. She hadn't even talked to me about the rumors. She just continued to be my friend. Sydney was the only person I felt like ever speaking to again. Besides Will. Will had taken things…differently. When I saw all of our friends talking about us, Will had been behind me. He had stood there until they noticed him. I heard him say in a disgusted tone,

"Having fun over there? Talking about whether we're crazy, or druggies, or whatever the fuck else you idiots have come to the conclusion about? Just sad…" He had muttered, and then chased after me. He had talked to me for a while. I told him to go away. As much as his advice might be good, to keep my head up, go about my business, I would rather just sit in the library, where nobody would bother me as I cursed myself for trusting people again.

/

Will POV:

I strode calmly into the Great Hall, gazing out upon those who continued to relentlessly whisper whenever I was in their presence. Al was behind me, as he and I were on good terms again. I realized that it wasn't fair to judge the Weasleys for talking about the rumors, but I was still angry with James and Fred for being the cause of Caitlin's extended stay in the library. I was worried about her. She took her meals alone, and spent all of the day in the library, only making it to lessons on time and leaving exactly when the bell rang.

I stalked past the Slytherin table, a smirk present on my face as I passed Flint, who had yelled at me one breakfast, "Hey Turner, come over to the Slytherin table, we've got some drugs for you and your sis!" This comment had earned him two weeks of detention.

I sat down, deep in thought. It was clear to me that someone had been spreading these rumors. Their motives were unclear. It seemed likely to me that they were in Slytherin, considering the incident with Flint. However, the teachers had found these rumors well founded. I thought back to the conversation Caitlin and I had had with McGonagall just a few days ago:

/

"_It has come to my attention that you two may have been involved with alcohol and drugs while at Salem Institute."_

_ "Why in the name of Merlin's most flaring left nostril would you think that, _Professor_?" _I shot back.

_ "We received a well founded tip from someone who overheard a conversation of yours. They came to me in the hope that I would put a stop to it."_

This was too much for me.

_"YOU THINK THAT WE WOULD DRINK AND DO DRUGS? YOU THINK AFTER THAT ASSWIPE THAT CALLED HIMSELF OUR FATHER CAME INTO OUR ROOM UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF DRUGS AND ALCOHOL AND HIT US BOTH ACROSS THE FACE, I WOULD BE THE SAME WAY AS HIM? YOU THINK THAT AFTER HIS WIFE BRANDISHED A STEAK KNIFE IN FRONT OF MY FACE, HITTING MY NECK AND GIVING ME THIS MARK, THAT I WOULD BE THE SAME WAY AS HER? WE"VE BEEN CLEAN EVER SINCE THE DAY WE WALKED IN ON THAT MAN HITTING HIS WIFE WITH A FUCKING LAMP, AND THEN SAW US AND CAME AFTER US WITH IT!"_

/

McGonagall had apologized, and assured us that she did not believe it, but explained that Professor Longbottom would be keeping a closer watch on us from know on. This was fine with me. I liked Professor Longbottom, even though I didn't like Herbology. Having him dogging me around the school could've been worse, as I enjoyed talking to him.

Anyway, today was a Saturday. Al and I were walking out of the Great Hall, planning on going up to the library and visiting Caitlin. Al had apologized the morning after I had gotten angry with him, and I accepted quickly. Life here was pretty dull without him. I noticed that he didn't get on too well with the other kids in our year, so I assumed he felt pretty bad when I had assumed he was in on all of the rumors.

As we were exiting the hall, Flint and his cronies came up behind me. I was shoved to ground hard, and saw Al pushed away as well. Flint was evidently not too happy about those detentions. I got up, seething.

"Well, well," he drawled loudly, gaining the attention of everybody around us. "If it isn't Mr. America. The Boy Who…Got High and Was Kicked Out of School."

This induced a few laughs from the crowd, and an extremely prevalent one from Scorpius Malfoy, who I was growing to dislike greatly.

Before Flint knew it, my wand was out and pointed straight at his heart.

"Move your hand an inch towards your pocket, and I swear that I will make sure you never see the fucking light of day again."

His smirk faded, turning into a very ugly grimace. I was very close to losing my cool and hexing him into oblivion when someone grabbed me and dragged me away. It was Al. I struggled for a second, and then he explained that the teachers had been coming out of the Hall and he had saved me from a detention. Still fuming, he dragged me down to Hagrid's. Hagrid greeted us jovially, and bustled around, making us some tea and..er…rock cakes.

"Whas' wrong with ya', Will?" he asked, troubled at the ugly expression on my face. I realized I was staring right at him, thinking about Flint.

Al explained quietly, and Hagrid addressed me.

"Yea, yea I heard abou' tha'." He said seriously. I snorted.

"You wan' me advice? Ignore it, huh?"

And he launched into a long story about some vile reporter, himself, and his family. Listening to his past troubles made me feel slightly better. I still wanted to punch Flint in the face, though. Maybe I would get that chance.

/

Rose POV:

It happened right before dinner. I was walking down to the Great Hall, cutting across an empty hallway to get downstairs. Suddenly I was up against the wall, five bulky Slytherins blocking my way.

I recognized Flint's toothy grin, as he whispered to me, "We're all alone. Nobody's gonna' hear you scream."

I tried to struggle, but was prepared for the worst. I desperately tried to get my wand out of my pocket. It was hopeless. Flint's grip was vice-like. And then, all of a sudden, it was gone.

On the ground was a blur of fists, rolling around as the Slytherins looked on in shock. Then they pulled the two figures off of their leader. It was Will and Al. The Slytherins held them back as Flint got up, shaking with rage. He was about to hit them both, as they were helpless. Then, all of a sudden, a well-aimed kick by Will freed them both. Now they were going at it again. The two Gryffindors aimed punches at their captors. One Slytherin fell to the ground, like a gigantic tree felled by a bulldozer. However, Will and Al were in a bad way. They were both on the ground, being kicked at and jumped on. I screamed for the Slytherins to stop, but they wouldn't listen, and one held me back to prevent me from reaching for my wand.

Then I saw three figures running at us. The cavalry had arrived. James, Fred, and Caitlin were bolting down the hallway. The Slytherin holding me turned around to be knocked out by a right hook from James. Then, James and Fred jumped into the fray. A well-placed jinx from Caitlin brought down a Slytherin, and another fell to Fred's barrage of relentless blows. Now only two remained. Al rolled away from the fight, and joined me by the wall. I checked him. He looked relatively unscathed, save for a black eye and a small nosebleed.

Will, instead of exiting the fight, had fought back up, getting to his feet, and double-teamed Flint along with James. I watched in shock as the two of them struck Flint at the same time. Caitlin had hexed the other one. Soon, all of the Slytherins were down, and right on time (or maybe a little late) McGonagall, Neville, Macmillan, Clearwater, and Hagrid came running down the corridor, yelling at everyone to stop.

They insisted that we explain what had happened. Everyone turned to me, and I told them the whole story. McGonagall seemed satisfied, and she ordered that everyone go to the hospital wing for treatment. Caitlin, Fred, and I were fine, and so was Al, relatively. However, James was sporting a few nasty bruises. He was limping, and was bleeding freely from his nose.

If possible, Will was in an even worse way. He had one and a half black eyes, a bloody nose, and was clutching his chest, which was bruised and bleeding. He had to be supported along the hallway, as his leg had given out halfway to the hospital wing.

Madam Pomfrey fussed over everyone. She gave me a Shock Potion, and told Will that he had two broken ribs. He would have to spend the night in the hospital wing. Caitlin was looking terrified. She was sitting on a chair while Madam Pomfrey attended to Will. I felt bad for her, so I put my arm around her tentatively. She didn't resist. She just stared ahead gloomily.

When Pomfrey was done, she instructed Will to drink some yellow liquid, and then hurried off to meet McGonagall.

/

Caitlin POV:

When Pomfrey left, we all crowded around Will's bed. He assured us that he was fine, and would be back on his feet in no time. Then he said that Flint probably looked a whole lot uglier. Leave it to Will to make a joke while he was in the hospital wing with two broken ribs.

He then spat out the yellow drink, swearing loudly. James smiled and gave him some more, assuring him that he had gone through this process due to Quidditch injuries. He then took the opportunity to apologize to me. He said that he didn't really believe the rumors, and that they were all going to try to clear our names.

Rose agreed with this immediately. I was surprised at Rose's sudden affection for all of us, although we had just saved her from Flint.

"Yea…but first we're going to need to know about you guys before you came here," Al said, looking beseechingly at me.

It was Will who spoke. He told them about our foster parents. He told them about Salem. He explained that we had no money. That we had run away from our home, and from school. He told them that we had lived on the streets for half of a year.

They all looked shocked. However, they handled it well. All four Weasleys promised to go to McGonagall with us in the morning. They left, bidding us both a good night. I was shocked at Will's readiness to spill all of our secrets. Then I looked around and realized that we were among friends, for the first time in our life.

From that moment on, we were all friends. After all, there are some things that you can't share without becoming friends, and one of them is knocking out a group of nasty Slytherins together.

**Please Review! Tell me whether or not you liked it! If not, why? I am having lots of fun writing this. Reviews make me want to write even more! Shout out to AKToad for the review! Thanks a lot!**

**I hope to update soon, this chapter took a while to write. I am also suffering from minor writer's block, and I don't want to make a mediocre chapter that is sort of…well…**_**meh**_**…so please review with ideas and criticisms to help me write. Thanks!**


	9. Who Do You Think You Are?

**Please Review!**

**Chapter 9: Who Do You Think You Are?**

Caitlin POV:

The day after that, Will was released from the hospital wing. Save for the slight remnants of a black eye, a small limp, and an inability to play Quidditch for the next week, he was fine.

We had resolved to go to McGonagall after classes. I was slightly doubtful, considering that McGonagall might not believe the Weasleys, who seemed to be mixed up in all of the trouble that went on around here. I guess this was just another thing they could add to the list.

I zoned out in Transfiguration, and ended up being thoroughly embarrassed when Professor Macmillan asked me a question and I stuttered for about half a minute before admitting that I didn't know what he was talking about. This drew snickers from most of the class, but Fred and James shot me an impressed thumbs up from behind Macmillan's back.

After classes, we all met right near Neville's office. James went inside, and a minute later, came out.

"Password's '_Felis Catus_'," he informed us, and we set out along the hallway until we reached a strange gargoyle that looked like some weird creature we had studied in Beasts class.

With the air of two people who had done this plenty of times before, James and Fred stepped up and addressed the gargoyle.

"Felis Catus," they said in unison.

Suddenly, the gargoyle sprang to life and spun upwards into the air, revealing the stone staircase that I had already climbed up once. We climbed the stairs and found ourselves in front of a wooden door. James rapped on it quickly, and then stepped back.

The door swung open, and we found that Professor McGonagall was sitting at her desk, a stern expression on her face, talking to Professor Clearwater. She dismissed Clearwater as we entered, and then motioned for us to go ahead, while retaining her stern expression.

"Well…er…" stammered James, looking around and pleading for help with his eyes.

Rose's voice rang out. "Professor, we believe that Caitlin and Will Turner deserve to have their names cleared. I have heard their story in their own words, something nobody but the people in this room have heard. We all believe them, and you should too."

She continued on to explain our story, paraphrasing most of it. Eventually she stopped, out of breath, and I positively beamed at her. It was cool to have friends.

At this point, Will helped her out, addressing the Headmistress with a piercing glare to match her own.

"So, Professor, we left Salem because we had no money, no family, and no choice. We never got kicked out, and never had any disciplinary problems with teachers. Therefore, we would greatly appreciate it if you would consider having the security measures being employed on us lifted."

He was speaking in a careful, measured tone, and I knew why. It would definitely be a stretch to guess that McGonagall had forgotten their previous meeting.

McGonagall stood up, surveying the looks on all of our faces. She then said,

"I will consider it, Mr. Turner. Thank you, Ms. Weasley. I would like to now speak to the Turners alone, if you please."

The Weasleys left slightly hesitantly, with backward glances as the door slammed shut behind them. I looked around at the beautiful office, with so many portraits on the walls. One especially prominent man with a kind face and twinkling spectacles gazed down at Will and I, without the pretense of being asleep, as the others were all snoring loudly. I recognized Albus Dumbledore from our History of Magic textbook.

"Now, Mr. and Mrs. Turner, it seems clear to me that the school may have acted inappropriately. However, it seems necessary that you should be informed of our source. One of your own classmates believes that he overheard a conversation of yours, containing certain…sensitive topics. I will consult with him before acting in any manner. However, if I find out that he has been lying, he will be punished severely, and I will owe you a most sincere apology. Please wait while I send for him."

We sat down as she left the room, only to return five minutes later with…

Will's friend, Joey Richter.

I looked at Will, and saw for a moment a display of evident shock. Eventually it replaced with an impassionate expression, and he faced McGonagall.

"Mr. Richter, would you please repeat what you informed me of last week?"

Joey looked very confused.

"Sorry, Professor, what d'you mean?"

"Joey, you informed me that you had heard Caitlin and Will talking about their use of drugs and alcohol while at Salem Institute."

"Sorry, Professor, I don't know what you mean."

"Very well then, Joey. We shall do this the hard way."

McGonagall produced a vial of clear liquid and told Joey that he must drink it to confirm that he had been telling the truth. Joey took it, and surprisingly, without hesitation, drank it.

"I have nothing to hide, Professor. Honest."

Then he contracted, and spoke in a different voice. It was flat and expressionless, and sounded as if the words were being pumped out of him.

"Remember…our…conversation…cursed…by…someone…confounded…memory…gone…back…"

We looked on in bewilderment. McGonagall stared at Joey for a while after his explanation had subsided: a cold, calculating stare.

It was Will who spoke first. "Flint." He breathed.

McGonagall looked at him questioningly, and he stared back as if it were obvious.

"Flint's had it out for us from day one. Look at him!"

We turned to Joey, who was still looking very confused and disoriented.

"Confunded. Probably Obliviated." He looked at McGonagall, who seemed to concur.

"Well, it appears that I do owe you an apology. Mr. Flint will see me, and I assure that appropriate measures will be taken, and recent events will be taken into consideration. Oh, and do take Mr. Richter to the hospital wing please. He will need to be dealt with."

Will looked worried at this, and asked McGonagall, "Professor, it seems as if he was forced to do this. I don't really think he should be punished for it…" He trailed off weakly.

"I assure you, Mr. Richter will not be punished. His involvement in this was, obviously, a malicious plot by another student."

With a thankful nod, Will left, dragging Joey behind him. I hung back for a second, and thanked McGonagall again. She was quite nice to me, and assured me that it was her fault and apologized once more. I left feeling as though a gigantic weight had been lifted from my shoulders.

/

As I walked out into the hallway, a red-haired bullet attacked me. It was Rose.

"She cleared you! Yes!" She screeched, and I smiled back.

"Alright, settle down there, ladies," said Will, still supporting Joey. "I have to take him up to Pomfrey."

"We'll come with." Said Al and Rose. They walked off together, with Joey walking in front of them, sometimes slumping partially. He occasionally needed to be prodded along by the three of them.

"Who was the scumbag that did it? Was it Richter?" said James venomously.

"No…Flint." I replied, shocked at his tone.

His expression turned ugly, and I smiled. It was nice having people looking out for you, too. I guess that was part of the whole friends thing?

"McGonagall's going to deal with him."

His expression became softer, and he smiled evilly. "I do not envy him."

"Yea, right?" I smiled, and with Fred in tow, we set off for dinner.

/

"So, to me it seems like you owe us big time." James said with a grin.

"Oh, boy." Said Sydney softly from my other side. I giggled along with her.

"That doesn't sound good." I said with a disinterested and haughty English accent.

"Guess you'll just have to lend us some of that firewhiskey you have from your drinking days at Salem." He laughed, but I was pissed off.

"Who the _hell_ do you think you are?" I punched him in the gut. He doubled over, while Fred roared with laughter. I stormed out of the hall. Honestly, why was it that every time James started being my friend, he would do something so annoying that we wouldn't talk for a day? _There go my trust issues again_, I thought wryly.

/

Will POV:

After depositing Joey in the hospital wing, Rose, Al and I headed down to dinner. We ate, and I left early, intending to visit Hagrid quickly, and thank him for the advice he had given me yesterday.

I was on my way out of the hall when someone ran headfirst into him, knocking me down.

"What the hell was that?" I shouted angrily.

Looking up, I saw a tall, blonde-haired kid. Scorpius Malfoy, Rose's boyfriend. I made a mental note to ask her what she saw in this asshole.

" 'Fraid I'm going to have to talk a few points from you for taking that tone with a prefect, Turner." He said loftily.

"How 'bout you stay out of my damn way next time, Malfoy?"

"Take ten more points there." He drawled.

"Heard about you captain, have you, Malfoy? Scared he might get detention on a game day because of me? Can't blame you." I replied sourly. Malfoy was the seeker for Slytherin.

"Take ten more points."

My mouth shut. I hated Malfoy, but couldn't afford losing that many points.

He sneered. "Any questions?"

This was too much for me. "Yeah, I have some questions. Hmm…what to start with? Let's see, how about…How dare you?"

He sneered, but seemed slightly affronted.

"Who do you think you are?" I said, leaning in closer to him, my eyebrows raised. I shoved him slightly. "You gonna' answer that?"

"What's going on? Is there a problem?

Rose and Al had exited the hall. I stepped back, but the heated expressions were evident on both of our faces. I resisted the urge to punch Malfoy and tell Rose what a slimy idiot her boyfriend was, but I refrained. She could figure that out herself.

"It's fine." I said. "Come on, Al." We headed back up to the common room, leaving Rose alone with Malfoy, slightly embarrassed.

Al asked, and I told him. "What a git." He said dismissively. "Don't know why in hell Rose likes him." We spent several minutes commenting on Malfoy's shortcomings, and then started our homework. Soon we were preoccupied with talking about the first Quidditch Match of the season, which would be coming up in a few short weeks.

This lessened my anger, as I realized that in only a few weeks, we would have the opportunity to show Malfoy and Flint how much better than them we really were.

**Please Review! I know this chapter was fairly short, but it was necessary to the story. Next chapter will be fun! Quidditch! Please comment, critique, and…compliment? Seriously, do whatever you want, just please review. I still need to figure out where exactly this story will end up, so please provide thoughts/suggestions/predictions. Shout out to mixandmingle for the awesome review! Thanks a lot!**


	10. A Nice, Clean Game

**Read and Review! Up to Chapter 10 already!**

**Chapter 10: A Nice, Clean Game**

Will POV:

"Just eat something." I said.

"No." said James, Al, and Fred at the same time.

Caitlin joined in. "Have some eggs, they're really good!" she wheedled, forking a piece of toast and dangling it in front of James and Fred's noses. She had dropped her anger just for today, and decided to support her friends in their first match of the season.

It would be Gryffindor against Slytherin in a duel to the death. The most heated rivalry at Hogwarts had been taken to a new level last month, as Flint, the Slytherin Captain, had been expelled (due to his role in the framing of Yours Truly). I could not be happier. Flint was gone, Slytherin was angry, and I was getting a chance to do something worth being proud of for the very first time at Hogwarts.

Scorpius Malfoy had replaced Flint as Captain, and in the past few weeks, Slytherin had sworn their vengeance. Al and I could barely walk in the hallways without having a nonverbal spell being shot at us. Eventually, James ordered that all members of the Quidditch team constantly be surrounded by Gryffindors. The girls I could live with. The first year boys, however, I could not. One asked Al very shyly for his autograph. I laughed hysterically until he asked for mine as well.

Anyway, the morning of the match had come. It was a crisp, clear, November day, and I had spent my whole breakfast trying to get the rest of the team to eat. Devon and I were the only ones eating, and Devon was wolfing down his food so fast he was probably hoping it would distract him from the task at hand.

We finished breakfast, and James stood up, announcing to the team that it was time. We walked in a group down to the field (pitch…whatever). As I strapped on my uniform I grinned. James had begun his pump-up speech, but it was very weak. He was feeling the pressure in his first game as Captain. I was feeling very differently.

Today I was excited, without a twinge of doubt, for the first time in a long time. It was time to go. I was ready to show the Slytherins up, before they figured out what had hit them.

Together, we walked out onto the pitch, met by cheers from what seemed to be about three-quarters of the crowd. I saw Hagrid cheering loudly from the stands. I even saw McGonagall clapping softly, but excitedly, with a slight smile on her face.

Grinning to myself, I mounted my broom, and kicked off.

/

Caitlin POV:

Syd and I met Rose at the Entrance, and walked off through the grounds together.

"So Rose, who're you rooting for today?" I said jokingly.

She smirked indignantly, turning pink. "Gryffindor, of course! Scorpius can-"

She trailed off as the Quidditch pitch came into view. We found seats very high up, near the teachers' box. I was shunted slightly aside as a great big hairy figure squeezed through the crowd, grunting, "Budge up, move along, there ya' go…"

Looking down below, onto the pitch, both teams walked slowly out of the tunnel and entered the pitch. I saw Will grin and take off. I might have even detected a wink in our direction. The two teams formed a circle in the air.

"Captains, shake hands." Said the referee, the ancient Madam Hooch.

Scorpius and James, staring daggers at each other, touched hands very quickly, and then moved away from each other.

"Right, now I want a nice, clean game from all of you!"

And with a count of three, and a tumultuous applause from the crowd, the balls were released.

I didn't know everything about the sport, but it was pretty straightforward. Al and Will had been talking about it for ages, and Syd had given me a crash course the night before, so I could follow pretty much everything that was happening in the air.

_"HELLO AND WELCOME, TO THE BEGINNING OF THE QUIDDITCH SEASON, GRYFFINDOR VS. SLYTHERIN!"_ A voice rang out from the teacher's box. Looking over, I saw that a fifth year Ravenclaw named Michael Goldstein was commentating. _"GRYFFINDOR THE FAVORITE IN THIS ONE, CONSIDERING THE RECENT EVENTS INVOLVING FORMER SLYTHERIN CAPTAIN KURT FLINT, BUT SCORPIUS MALFOY HAS TAKEN OVER FOR SLYTHERIN, THEIR FIFTH YEAR SEEKER LOOKING TO TURN THINGS AROUND. BEATERS ARE WALDEN SMITH AND JAMES KIRKE; CHASERS ARE ANDREW CARMICHAEL, MARK JONES, AND MAC HORNBY. KEEPER IS RICH MCLAGGEN. AS FOR GRYFFINDOR, IT'S A WEASLEY DOMINATED TEAM WITH AN INTERESTING ADDITION THIS YEAR. WILL TURNER, TRANSFER FROM SALEM, HAS TAKEN OVER THE THIRD CHASER POSITION, ALONG WITH DEVON THOMAS AND GRYFFINDOR CAPTAIN, JAMES POTTER."_

There was a roar of applause upon hearing James's name. Apparently he was something of a fan-favorite among the rest of the school.

_"BEATERS ARE FRED WEASLEY AND CHLOE MIDGEN, KEEPER IS AUDREY BAILEY, AND SEEKER IS AL POTTER! NOW TO THE GAME FOLKS, IT'S GRYFFINDOR WITH THE LEAD OFF THE BAT, IT'S TEN TO NOTHING OFF OF THE EARLY SCORE BY POTTER! NOW CARMICHAEL IN POSSESSION, HE'LL FLIP IT OVER TO HORNBY- OH NO HE WON'T! NICE STEAL THERE FROM TURNER AS HE'LL TAKE IT THE OTHER WAY!"_

I cheered loudly at this, and Will zoomed past the side where we were sitting, his brow furrowed as he edged past the Slytherin defense.

"_THERE'S A NICE BLUDGER SENT HIS WAY BY KIRKE, BUT HE GOT RID OF IT! THOMAS NOW THE SWING OVER TO POTTER, BACK TO TURNER- OH, VERY NICE! THAT'S AN EXCELLENT FEED BEHIND THE BACK TO THOMAS, WHO PUTS IT AWAY NO PROBLEM, GRYFFINDOR BY TWENTY!"_

The crowd roared with this exciting development. I smiled. Gryffindor was winning, and everyone was finding out that Will could play.

"_IT'S CARMICHAEL WITH POSSESSION, AS THE SLYTHERIN'S FORM AN ARROWHEAD-OOH! TURNER BATTED OUT OF THE WAY THERE WITH A NICE BLUDGER FROM SMITH. IT'S HORNBY NOW, HE'LL DRAW AND KICK IT OFF TO JONES, NICE PASS, ONLY THE KEEPER TO BEAT NOW- OH WHAT A SAVE! AUDREY BAILEY WITH A BEAUTIFUL BLOCK ON THE LEFT HOOP, AS GRYFFINDOR GETS THE QUAFFLE BACK!"_

The crowd cheered, except for the side dressed in silver and green, which groaned audibly.

"_NOW THOMAS WILL TAKE THE QUAFFLE, DROPS IT DOWN TO TURNER, GOOD FEINT, ONE TO BEAT- GRYFFINDOR SCORE! THEY LEAD BY THIRTY! WHAT'S THAT-OH, LOOKS LIKE KIRKE ISN'T HAPPY, HE NEARLY KNOCKED TURNER OFF OF HIS BROOM THERE, THAT'LL BE A PENALTY-"_

The crowd roared with indignation as Hooch blew her whistle. Devon and James had to hold Fred back, as he was close to attacking Kirke with his club. Will was grinning mockingly at Kirke, egging him on with a sarcastic expression.

"_OKAY, SO AFTER THAT DISPLAY OF BLATANT UNSPORTSMANLIKE CONDUCT BY THE SLYTHERIN BEATER-" _Neville's voice cut him off warningly. "_SORRY SIR, JUST TELLING IT LIKE I SEE IT…TURNER PUTS AWAY THE PENALTY, NO PROBLEM…NOW ITS CARMICHAEL TO JONES, JONES WILL DODGE A BLUDGER- BUT NOT THAT ONE! NICE BLUDGER THERE FROM FRED WEASLEY, GRYFFINDOR BEATER! ITS HORNBY RETRIEVING THE QUAFFLE, HE'LL TAKE IT HIMSELF- MAYBE TRY FOR SOME TEAM ACTION THERE, MAC- BUT HE BEATS BAILEY THAT TIME, AND SLYTHERIN IS ON THE BOARD, DOWN TWENTY, STILL ANYONE'S GAME."_

It was definitely anyone's game, and it continued back and forth fairly competitively, although Gryffindor was starting to pull away…

"_THOMAS, TO TURNER-NICE NO LOOK FEED THERE TO POTTER-AND JAMES POTTER PUTS IT AWAY. GRYFFINDOR BEGINNING TO RUN AWAY WITH THIS ONE, 180 TO 70-AND HAS MALFOY SEEN THE SNITCH?"_

The crowd gasped as both Malfoy and Al sped into a dive, a speck of gold barely visible right in front of them. Malfoy was just ahead; he was going to get it…

"_NO! GREAT BLUDGER THERE FROM WEASLEY, LOOKS LIKE BOTH SEEKERS LOST IT THERE-LUCKY BREAK FOR GRYFFINDOR. SCORE NOW 200-70 (_James having scored twice while McLaggen was watching Malfoy chase the Snitch)_ AND NOW TURNER HAS BEAT JONES, AND IS ONE-ON-ONE WITH MCLAGGEN, THAT'LL BE PUT IN, AND GRYFFINDOR'S UP BY 140! OH! THEY'VE SEEN IT AGAIN! MALFOY AND POTTER LOCKED IN PURSUIT, POTTER RIGHT ON MALFOY'S TAIL, MALFOY'S RIGHT THERE…MERLIN! MALFOY'S BLOCKED BY TURNER, HE FLEW RIGHT IN FRONT OF HIM! MALFOY SPINS OUT, AND-WOW! GAME OVER! AL POTTER HAS CAUGHT THE SNITCH! GRYFFINDOR…WINS!"_

The stadium erupted, as the players in red and gold came to the ground to meet Al and Will, pumping fists and engulfing them in a hug. A sea of students began to swarm the pitch, cheering wildly, as Al raised the Snitch in the air. The whole team was patting Will on the back for his daring maneuver.

Malfoy had been about to get the Snitch when Will burst right in front of his face, surprising him and forcing him to spin out, leaving Al alone to catch the Snitch. Malfoy could be seen yelling at the top of his lungs, cursing Will and begging Madam Hooch for a penalty, but it would not work.

Gryffindor had won, and the entire team raised Will and Al on their shoulders and passed them along, over the crowd, all the way back to the castle.

"Party in the Common Room!" shouted James. Everyone roared with delight, and they set about singing an old Gryffindor favorite, "Weasley is our King."

/

Will POV:

The common room was in an uproar. After two hours everyone was still going strong. I think I had been tossed over the top of the crowd for about half an hour before I went off to the corner with Rose and Al. We were almost running out of the food James and Fred had stolen from the kitchens.

"Oi, Al! Will!" James and Fred appeared out of the crowd. "Follow us!"

Al grinned and bounded up, as I stood up, slightly confused. "We're going to Hogsmeade," he explained. I was still confused.

"Isn't that like…way off of the grounds?"

James and Fred mocked disappointment, shaking their heads. "You have much to learn, young one." They said disparagingly. I followed the three of them down a few hallways, until at last we came to a statue of what looked like a hag with an eye patch. It was here that James and Fred explained to me about the school's secret passageways. They also showed me what they called their "crown jewel." The Marauder's Map.

I had to admit: It was pretty cool. That scrappy old piece of parchment showed where everybody in the castle was, and what they were doing. We followed the dank, damp, tunnel to Hogsmeade, and I set foot in it for the first time after emerging from a dark cellar in a candy shop.

We gathered supplies for the party. Apparently Quidditch parties lasted pretty late, and got pretty crazy. James paid for countless amounts of butterbeers, and even returned to us with some firewhiskey, while Fred went off to a joke shop- returning with his arms full of wizarding merchandise.

We set off back through the tunnel, and walked through the portrait hole minutes later, heroes once again.

/

Caitlin POV:

I sat down, fairly tired. It was around midnight, and amongst all of the constantly screaming people, I couldn't find Will. Then, he came through the door with an armful of food. Everyone roared with delight.

"Later!" he yelled in response to my questioning look.

Then, as he vanished, James came over, carrying three firewhiskeys.

"There we are," he said, looking pretty plastered himself. I looked at the bottle skeptically, and then saw Sydney and James drinking their bottles and laughing over something-or maybe nothing at all in particular.

My reckless abandonment took over, and I poured some of the hot liquid down my throat. It burned slightly, but in a tasty way, and I felt good about myself for the first time in a long time.

I joined in laughing with Sydney and James for no reason, and we got crazier and crazier, yelling and jumping while drinking the firewhiskey, joining in the fray. It was hard to stay together after Fred, who had twenty girls surrounding him, joined us. He pushed through the crowd to get to Sydney, and they started dancing raucously. It was even harder to stay anywhere remotely near James, as every single Gryffindor girl would do anything to touch him slightly. I was too busy laughing and having fun to notice the furtive, angry glances that Will was giving me from the corner.

/

Will POV:

"Nah, I don't drink." I said to Al.

"Suit yourself. Have a butterbeer then."

"Alright, thanks."

"No problem." He said as we sat down. I was tired from dancing, jumping and yelling. Trying to not concentrate on Caitlin and James dancing rambunctiously in the center of the room, I turned my attention to the lovely young ladies who were trying to get _my_ attention.

"Guess the night's not over quite yet," I said to Al, who was staring at the five fourth years glancing over at him and giggling.

"Huh?" He said, clueless, still staring at the girls.

"Yep." I said with a chuckle, and then we got up once again.

**This chapter was extremely fun to write- I love writing Quidditch! Please Review! Any Ideas, Predictions, Critiques or Suggestions that you guys have are more than welcome! Thanks again to mixandmingle for the awesome reviews! Please tell me what you think of this story! Also tell me whether or not chapters need to be longer. I should have another one up by Friday at the latest. Thanks a lot!**


	11. Girl Problems

**Read and Review!**

**Chapter 11: Girl Problems**

Caitlin POV:

"What the hell!" I exclaimed loudly. Everyone in Transfiguration turned around and stared. James and Fred ceased immediately, as Professor Macmillan gazed upon us imperiously.

"Problem, Ms. Turner? Mr. Potter?"

"N-N-No s-sir." James could barely get the words out; he was working so hard to suppress his impending snigger.

He and Fred had decided it would be fun to stab at my neck with a twig that wanted to kill me. I had heard them talking yesterday about this twig, and how they had stolen it from the giant tree down on the grounds that flailed around and wanted to kill everybody.

Hilarious. Really Hilarious.

I stormed out of the room as the bell rang, and walked down onto the grounds. I had actually been having a good lesson in what was quickly becoming my favorite subject. I guess James and Fred took this personally, as I screwed around a fair bit with them in most of our classes. _James_ Freaking _Potter_, I thought.

Truth be told, I didn't really know how I stood with James. I guess I could count him as a friend, although he could sometimes annoy me to no end. That being said, everyone could annoy me to no end. Except Will. And Sydney.

However, there had been that night after the Quidditch match. I remember getting drunk. I also remember dancing with James. I couldn't recall anything else, however, and was continuously hoping that I hadn't made a horrible mistake without my wits about me.

Winter had come swiftly, and the amount of snow on the grounds had…well…snowballed. I could see my own breath mist in front of my eyes as I drew my jacket more tightly around myself. Luckily we had a free after Transfiguration, which gave me some time to cool down.

I headed down to the lake and sat Indian-style on the eastern bank. I was starting to genuinely appreciate how beautiful this place was. Even its quirks were beginning to grow on me. Except for Peeves, who had just yesterday dropped an ink balloon on top of my head.

I sat by the lake for a while, sitting in the snow. I tightened my scarf and looked at the faint sun. By its position I could tell the time (trick I had picked up in Salem). I gazed across the lake, lost in thought when I saw a solitary figure walking along the other side. Upon closer inspection, I realized that it was…James.

This was odd to me, as James could barely ever be seen without Fred. As I watched, he made his way to the spot on the lake directly opposite to me. Then I felt a hand on my shoulder.

"What are you doing out here? You must be cold." A voice spoke softly from right next to me, making me jump. I recognized Jason Belby, a seventh year Slytherin.

From my original Hogwarts experience, I had gathered that Slytherins were the bad guys. I had tried to stay away from them, especially with Will's whole Quidditch rivalry thing. So, my natural instinct was to ignore Belby completely. I stared across the lake, and saw James standing on the opposite bank, gazing across.

Just as I noticed this, I felt Belby gently place his coat around me and sit down.

"In case you get cold." He said kindly. I looked back over at James, and despite the great amount of distance between us, I could have sworn that I saw his eyebrows narrow. He began to walk back to the castle.

"I have to go." I muttered to Belby, casting his coat aside a tad harshly. I walked up to the castle, wondering if I had imagined the look on his face.

/

Will POV:

"Will Turner, full marks!" rang out the deep, slow voice of Professor Slughorn as he handed back my essay. I smirked at the Slytherins as I made my way up to his desk from the back of the dungeons.

As I sat back down, I noticed Al staring at Scorpius. He nudged me and whispered, "Looks like dear old Scorp isn't too happy that you beat him at his favorite subject, eh?"

I snickered at Malfoy as he continued to gaze at the ceiling, looking thoroughly put out.

"Rose Weasley, full marks as well!" Slughorn continued, as Rose went up to get her paper, also looking slightly put out.

"She can't be happy that you shared the top of the class with her." Al commented as I made a pointed attempt to avoid her glare while she stalked back to her seat.

"Holy crap, Al, shut up. It's not a competition, man."

"Whatever you say." He said in a singsong voice that made me stare at him and Rose turn around, press a finger to her lips, and shush at us loudly.

_Well then_, I thought as I set to brewing my Befuddling Draught.

/

"Mr. Turner and Ms. Weasley please hang back for a moment."

"See you at lunch," said Al as he gathered his things and left.

I eyed Rose suspiciously, not entirely sure that she hadn't gotten me in trouble. It wouldn't be the first time.

"Well, you two," he said, eyeing us fondly. "You must realize that my Slug Club Christmas Party is approaching swiftly."

Rose nodded quickly, smiling widely. I felt lost.

"Rose, I would like to have you help me plan it again. You did such an excellent job last year."

She beamed and replied with a very eager "Yes."

"And Mr. Turner, you are new to the Slug Club, so you probably don't know what I'm talking about."

I nodded slowly.

"Well, I'm having a Christmas party, dear boy, and you're at the top of the list! Won't you join us?"

"Oh…um…sure…I guess, I mean, of course." I stuttered very lamely.

Rose gave me a slightly pitying glance, and we left for lunch together after the dismissal of a happy-looking Slughorn.

She stared at me for a while, and eventually I just stared back.

"What?" I said irritably.

"Nothing." She replied just as abrasively. I was again completely lost.

"Why are you even made at me?" I asked with exasperation. To be honest, Rose had developed the habit of acting mad at me. We were friends, but she was always acting like I had done something wrong.

"Shut up." She replied. I stopped walking, completely taken aback. She paused, but kept walking. When I walked into the Great Hall, I headed straight for Al.

"What in _hell_ is wrong with that girl?" I asked, staring at her from across the Hall, to where she was talking with Scorpius.

I explained what happened to Al, who seemed nonplussed. "Yeah, my cousins are all pretty crazy."

"What the hell am I supposed to have done? Is she the only one allowed to get good grades?"

"I don't know, man." Said Al absently, while spreading jam on his toast.

_Whatever_, I thought, stabbing some eggs and eating them viciously. That calmed me down. Nothing was better than breakfast for lunch. Nothing.

/

As Al and I walked back from dinner, we took our usual shortcut. Behind the tapestry with a goblin massacre on it, through a fake wall, and into a hidden door. We had reached the hidden door when we heard a strange noise coming from within.

I looked at Al, apprehensively, but he turned the knob and opened it. We were met with the sight of Rose and Scorpius, locked in a fierce embrace, breaking apart and looking towards the doorway with a mixture of horror and sheepishness. Al and I stood, motionless, until:

"You complete assholes! What the fuck? Take a fucking picture, it'll last longer!" screeched Rose, brandishing her wand in our direction. Al looked ready to jinx Malfoy's eyes shut permanently, but she sent a hex flying our way. I drew my wand and blocked it just in time. Now it was my turn.

"What the hell, Weasley? We didn't do anything. Why the fuck would you hex us for walking in on you idiots in the middle of a hallway?" I snarled back. She replied,

"You know damn well why, _Turner_, so why don't you both just turn back and leave the way you came in."

But Al had decided to act. He dashed past my outstretched arm, dodged Rose, and hurtled at a terrified Malfoy, who ran away, with Al tearing after him.

Rose looked murderously at me, and then slunk down to the floor, leaning against the wall, and covered her head in her hands. This made me extremely uncomfortable.

"Look, Rose…I…I'm sorry." I said reluctantly, knowing perfectly well that it wasn't me who should be apologizing.

She didn't respond.

"Ok. Out with it then. Why are you angry with me? Did I do something, because I wasn't trying to, and-"

She cut me off. "How do you get good grades?"

"Wow. Really? Your mad because of that Potions essay, aren't you? Wow. That's pathetic."

She looked back at my angry stare, and replied with a rush of words, "You never even study! I never see you doing homework! At all! What the hell? You don't even try hard in class! I work harder than everyone combined, yet I can't even beat you in a damn Potions essay!"  
"Well…we tied…erm…" I was really uncomfortable now. She looked back up at me and continued.

"OWLs are coming up, and everyone expects _me_ to be the best. My own mother would disown me if I don't get twelve OWLs, and I just know I'm going to fail! I know, I know, I know!"

She was getting hysterical. This was getting out of control.

"Hey, hey, listen." I said, sitting down next to her. "Your mother would never disown you for something so stupid. I bet she loves you no matter what."

She looked back at me, probably finally realizing how insensitive that comment could have been to a person with absolutely no parents.

"And what's more," I continued, "Why would you think you're going to fail? Your top of the year, everyone knows it! All the teachers think you're the best student! You study more than everyone, and it pays off! Besides, OWLs aren't for months! Don't worry about them! Now let's go upstairs, you idiot!" I said jokingly. She punched me in the shoulder.

"Ow…" I muttered. "What…why?" She just grinned and set off down the corridor.

"Well," she said slyly after a long silence, "I bet you're excited for Christmas break this year."

"Why? We'll have to stay here, won't we?"

She looked at me weirdly. "Wait, Al hasn't told you yet? I told Caitlin ages ago!"

/

Caitlin POV:

Will and Rose walked into the common room where I was sitting dejectedly on a chair. They headed straight for me.

"Really?" said Will hotly.

"Really?" I replied just as hotly.

"You didn't tell me they had invited us over for break? Why not?"

"I thought Al invited you…"

"Whatever," Rose cut in quickly. "Either way, our parents heard about you guys from us, and they wanted to see if you could stay over for the break. Uncle Harry always said that his Christmases were great when he spent them over at my dad's house."

"Awesome-but you and Al don't live in the same house, right?" asked Will.

"Nah, but they're right next to each other, in Godric's Hollow. We might as well just share a house."

"Great." I muttered angrily.

"What?" they both asked.

"It's James. He saw this Slytherin hitting on me down by the lake and he won't talk to me now. Just look at him!"

They both looked over at James, whose gaze was flickering from the fire over to me every ten seconds.

"That's enough." I said. "I'm gonna go talk to him."

"Good luck." Came Al's sarcastic voice from the portrait hole. "Oh don't worry Rose, I only scared him off!" Will laughed. "Go get 'em, girl" he said with a smirk, turning back to me.

I flipped him off before heading over to James angrily. I glanced back to see them all exchange knowing glances and head up to their dorms. Probably a good idea, but they most likely still heard the shouting the shouting that continued for about twenty minutes before our shouting match was over.

Everyone was laughing as we headed up to bed. I guess me shouting at James was something everyone had taken to, and expected. I, however, didn't feel any better, as James had seemed genuinely hurt, and I had been judged completely unfairly. Syd comforted me as I vented for hours through the night, until I realized that she was asleep, and I promptly fell asleep too.

**So, another chapter up! Sorry for the delay! I had a really busy weekend! Anyway, this chapter was a bit of a force, but at least I got it out there! Please tell me what you think! Review! It means a lot to me! I want suggestions, complaints, and flames, whatever! Just leave your comments and I will read them carefully! Thanks so much!**


	12. Slug Christmas

**Read and Review! Or Just Read! Or Just Review!**

**Chapter 12: Slug Christmas**

Caitlin POV:

The last week before break was here, and I was excited. School was fine, but it would be awesome to get a break. Also, Will and I actually had somewhere to go this Christmas!

Lessons had all but ended, and some classes just consisted of talking and playing around with each other while the teachers relaxed and ate Ice Mice.

I was ready for break, and was having a great time relaxing by the fire on our second-to-last night when James sent down across from me.

"Where's your better half?" I said jokingly without looking up.

"Across the room, talking to _your_ better half." He replied with an amused air. I looked up to find Fred chatting animatedly with Syd, who was giggling at some cheesy joke he had made. I sighed, smiling, and shaking my head, before looking back at my homework for the break.

"So…" Said James, and I realized that I had forgotten that he was there.

"So." I said back, eyebrows raised.

"Um…well Ole Sluggy's party is tomorrow night…y'know, last night of term and all, and I don't have a date."

"Plenty of that to go around." I said sarcastically. Just yesterday Syd had been talking with me about this party, hoping someone would ask her. And all of us had to listen to Fred speculate airily about who he was going to ask.

"So…" he said, sounding weird.

"So…" I said, still looking down at my book.

"So will you go with me? I mean, just as friends, of course," he added hastily.

I looked up from my book.

"Are we friends?" I asked seriously.

"Why of course, Ms. Turner!" He announced while doing a great impression of Professor Macmillan.

"Yeah…although some would say we argue too much to be friends…" I plodded on.

He looked a bit taken aback. "Yeah, but that's all in good fun, right? C'mon, please come with me! It'll be fun!"

"Look…James…. I-I don't really think I'm invited, you know? Isn't this just for those famous kids in his _club_?" I pronounced the last word with distaste.

"No way. If I say your coming, you can come."

I looked at him, surprised. He raised his eyebrows and said,

"Potter, remember?"

"Ah, right. So that's settled then."

"Excellent. Looks like Fred's getting on well, isn't he?"

I looked back over at Fred and Sydney, sitting together, laughing and joking. I couldn't help but smile.

"They're too perfect for each other."

"Agreed. At least now Fred will stop berating me about whether or not she'll go to the damn party with him. It was getting quite annoying."

"Ditto." He raised his eyebrows at my weird language. "I mean, Syd kept talking about wanting him to ask her out, so we're in the same boat."

We looked back over at the two chatting on the couch. I couldn't help but wonder if, while we were talking about them, they were talking about us. I erased the thought from my brain, and headed up to bed.

/

Will POV:

_Great,_ I thought. _ Now I get to go to a party I don't want to go to._

I picked up my date, a fifth year Ravenclaw named Olivia, and we proceeded to Slughorn's office. I took a deep breath as I opened the door, but it wasn't enough to prepare me for the wave of noise that crashed over me as we entered the room.

I saw Rose standing by the wall with Scorpius, and walked over to her as she waved to me.

I introduced Olivia to Rose, and even begrudgingly acknowledged Scorpius's existence. Then I turned to Rose.

"So, what d'you think?" She said, pointing around.

"It looks awesome." I replied truthfully. She beamed her thanks. It was pretty amazing. The room was draped with colorful hangings, and golden light shown from the small, glittering fairies hanging off of the walls. "Hey, have you seen Al?"

"No." she said thoughtfully. "I saw him in the common room. He was talking to that fourth year he's coming with."

"Right. But why hasn't he shown up?"

"I don't know."

"Whatever…Oh, shit. He's coming."

"Who?

"Slughorn…crap."

I tried to duck out of the way to avoid one of Slughorn's excessively awkward conversations, but his meaty hand seized the back of my robes.

"Mr. Turner, m'boy, what're we up to here? Not trying to leave so soon, I hope. Ah, this must be your date…Olivia? Pleasure, dear. And- ah, yes. Scorpius, young master, so glad you could join us!"

I hated people that were excessively loud for no reason. Slughorn's voice reverberated off of the walls, and I would be surprised if everyone in the room couldn't hear exactly what he was saying.

"Oh, do come here, all of you, you must meet some of my esteemed friends! Please, meet Mr. Cormac McLaggen, Head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports."

A shrewd-looking man nodded towards us, then left quickly when he saw Rose. I thought back to the McLaggen on the Slytherin team, and made the connection. But Slughorn kept booming, "And here we have the famous naturalist, Mr. Rolf Scamander. And-Ah-Hah! I believe his wife is a family friend of yours, Ms. Weasley!"

"Yes, Hi Aunt Luna." Rose said kindly.

I finally was able to disappear under the pretense of getting punch, dragging Olivia along with me. After hanging out by a table that had an endless supply of pretzels, I finally caught sight of Al, in the corner with his date.

We walked over, and on the way I bumped into Caitlin and Syd.

"Hey there!" Caitlin said cheerily.

"Sup." I said, looking at her. They both looked exhausted from dancing, and maybe a little bit tipsy.

"Who's this?"

"Hi, I'm Olivia." Said Olivia with a smile.

"Ok…well we should get back to our dates…"said Caitlin. "You kids have fun."

"Yeah, you too, just try not to get too wasted, will you please? Thanks."

Half laughing, half scowling, I finally made my way over to Al, where he was talking to his date, looking thoroughly put out. As we approached, we saw her storm off, and Al run his hand through his hair, evidently very annoyed.

"Hey, what's with that, dude?" I asked jokingly.

"No idea." He frowned. "Bit of a creep if you ask me. Apparently she thought my dad was going to be here, and then she got angry when she found out that he wasn't."

"Tough luck, man. But why did she think your dad would be here?"

"Well," he said uncomfortably, "I might've-let slip-that he was probably going to drop in…but I never guaranteed it! Anyway, I thought she might've actually wanted to come with me!" He finished irritably.

"Oh yeah, brilliant plan." I said, struggling to hold my snickers in. Olivia giggled, and left, saying she was going to talk with a friend she had just spotted.

"She must think I'm a right asshole, huh?" asked Al morosely.

"Well…. yeah, definitely." We both laughed, and all of a sudden Rose came rushing up to us.

"Just got away from Scorpius- the prick is trying to suck up to all of the teachers here!"

We both smirked at each other, but she didn't notice.

"Anyway, Al, come on! Aunt Luna is here, you have to say hello!"

"Be right back." He muttered as Rose dragged him away.

I stood there for a minute, trying to figure out where Olivia had gone. Maybe she had left. I didn't really like her that much, although she was pretty nice. I was about to go look for Caitlin and check on her sobriety, when I heard a rasping sound come from behind a curtain.

I could just make out a figure, standing alone inside the small alcove behind the curtain. I ducked my head in stealthily, and a very strange sight met my eyes.

The creepiest woman I had ever seen up close was staring at herself in a small mirror hanging on the wall. I recognized her as the Divination teacher, but I had only ever seen her at the staff table at the beginning of the year.

Her hair was disheveled, and I caught sight of a bottle of sherry in her right hand. She spoke to herself in a rasping voice,

"-_AND THE DEAD SHALL WALK AGAIN!"_ Then she fell into a coughing fit, and collapsed onto the floor. I rushed forward to help her up. Feeling her wrist, I deduced that she had a pulse, and ran for help.

"Professor! Professor!" I yelled at Professor Slughorn, and he turned around, surprised.

"Yes, Mr. Turner?"

"It's Professor Trelawney, sir! He collapsed, just behind there. I think she had too much to drink."

Three wizards rushed over to help, and carried her up to the hospital wing. Everyone had stopped to watch.

"Well, Well, everyone, nothing to worry about!" Shouted Slughorn airily. "Please, continue enjoying yourselves!"

Not knowing what to think, I turned around, to be met by Al, Rose, and Scorpius. Al looked thoroughly annoyed, and I assumed it was because Rose was following him around. Scorpius, in turn, was following her.

"What happened, man?"

"Not sure." I said, partially lying. I was extremely aware of Scorpius craning his slimy neck to listen in.

"Hey Al, I forgot to ask, where's-"

I cut off Rose, as I shook my head drastically behind Al's head.

"Where's who?"

"Uh-never mind."

/

Caitlin POV:

We all stood outside Slughorn's office, having been sent out when the party ended at midnight. I wasn't drunk, because there was obviously no alcohol served at a teacher's party. However, James shouted, "The night's still young, people! Gryffindor, let's take this party upstairs!"

Everyone consented loudly, and we raced up the stairs to the common room. I wasn't surprised to find that James and Fred had set up an after party, and had seemingly conjured some firewhiskey and mead out of thin air.

The party raged on into the night, until there was a loud knock on the portrait, which we took for Neville telling us to go to bed. James and Fred gathered up the incriminating evidence, bid Sydney and myself a hasty good night, and disappeared into their dormitory. Everybody followed suit. Soon the common room was unnaturally quiet.

/

Someone tapped me again.

"Wake up! Caitlin, wake up!" It was Sydney.

"Wazzaffkkkknnnnnhhhlllll!' I groaned, rolling out of bed.

"We all slept through breakfast. The train back home is going to leave soon! You have to get dressed!"

I quickly slipped some clothes on, and went down to the common room, where I found everyone waiting for me. They all looked how I felt-like a zombie.

James's hair was sticking up even more than usual, and he looked grouchy. Fred was standing, but had his eyes closed and was snoring. Al and Rose were both muttering angrily under their breath, and were sporting bloodshot eyes and a haggard expression.

The only person who seemed fine was Will. He welcomed me cheerily, and slipped me some toast from breakfast.

Soon we were all on the train heading back to London, sitting in the same compartment.

"Ugh!" groaned James. "I feel like there's a hippogriff in my head, banging on my brain with drumsticks!"

"That's it, huh?" snorted Fred. "I feel like there's a dragon breathing fire on my eyes and my brain. And my throat." He added, slumping back in his seat.

"Mom's gonna' kill us. She always knows! Crap!" said Al.

I simply kept groaning. I felt like the interior of my head was being beaten, as it pulsed rapidly.

Will guffawed at the sight of all of us. Almost simultaneously, we all shouted, "Shut the fuck up!" and proceeded to flip him off.

He just kept grinning. Finally he pulled a vial of green potion out of his backpack, and handed it to me.

"Hangover cure. Stole it from the hospital wing after breakfast. Everyone take a swig, save some for the others."

Feeling bad, we excessively thanked him. I cursed loudly after my sip, but was soon feeling much, much better.

"You're a lifesaver, Will." I said.

"Yep, that's what they call me."

As the train came to a halt, we stepped outside onto the platform of the familiar station. Almost instantly, we were greeted by Ginny Potter and the members of the famous Golden Trio. Al, James, and Lily hugged their parents, and Hugo hugged his. Rose had run off to say goodbye to Scorpius.

"You two must be the Turners, right?" said Ginny warmly.

"Yeah," I replied.

"I remember you two from Diagon Alley, with Neville!" exclaimed Hermione. "You're from Salem, aren't you?"

"Err-yes." Said Will awkwardly.

"Well," said Harry, speaking for the first time. "Will, you'll be staying with us then. And…Caitlin, right?"

I nodded.

"You'll be with Ron and Hermione here. Don't worry, they grow on you." He grinned. "And also, we live just across the road. You'll be seeing your brother every day."

This made me feel better, as I didn't really want to spend Christmas without Will. Rose was nice, and she was one of my friends, but I couldn't be too happy thinking of spending the entire Christmas alone with her.

We climbed into two separate cars, and drove away from the station towards Godric's Hollow.

**What do you think? Review, Review, Review! Tell me what you guys thought! I liked this chapter better than the last one (That one was sort of a filler). Anyway, be sure to review, flame, hate, rip on it, whatever you want! Thanks a lot!**


	13. Christmas at the Potters

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**Chapter 13: Christmas at the Potters**

Will POV:

The Potter's house was, to describe it in one word, _awesome_. They basically owned a mansion just outside of a little town called Godric's Hollow. The Weasleys lived just across the road, in a similarly large house. We went over to the Weasleys soon after arriving at Al's house, and everyone was preparing for the trip to the Weasley's grandparents, where their vast family was gathering for dinner.

We arrived at the "Burrow" later that night, after traveling by Floo Powder (A strange sensation that would take some getting used to). All of the kids went outside to avoid the grown-ups hustling and bustling over dinner, and yelling at anybody who would get in their way. As we waited for dinner to be served, I found myself alone with Rose and asked her something had had been on my mind for a while.

"Hey, um, d'you think…I mean would you mind…"

"What?" she said, looking at me oddly.

"Well, its just that-er- Caitlin's birthday is in a couple of days, and its her seventeenth, so its pretty big, and um…you did that whole Slughorn thing, so…"

"You want me to plan a party?" She asked.

"Well, yea, if you wouldn't mind…I mean I'm no good at all that stuff, so…"

"Sure! It'll be awesome! I'll talk to Grandma Weasley and see if we can have it here, with all of the cousins…" And she walked inside rather excitedly.

_Well that went well._ I said to myself, a bit too soon, as Rose came running back outside, shrieking.

"What happened?" We all asked, gathering around her.

"I went inside…to ask…I mean, to ask a question, and she-she chased me out with a frying pan!" She sounded absolutely shocked.

"Wow." Remarked James. "Maybe Grandma's gone completely off the edge."

"Who cares, mate?" said Fred, winding up and hitting him in the face with a fistful of snow. "SNOWBALL FIGHT!" He yelled at the top of his lungs. James yelled, picked up a handful of snow and slung it back at Fred.

However, he missed, hitting the person next to Fred. Caitlin. Big mistake. Huge. With a look of unmistakable fury on her face, she advanced slowly on James, fuming. James backed away, hands up in defense, cowering away from her.

He slipped and fell in the snow. Soon everyone had piled up on him, led by Fred and Al, and were all shoveling snow in his eyes, nose, and mouth.

Soon, dinner was served, and everyone came outside into the magical tent that had been constructed and sat down too eat. There simply wasn't enough room in the house. If everyone had tried to fit into there, even with all of the attachments built onto it; I would've confidently bet that the whole place would have exploded.

We had dinner: kids on one side and adults on the other. Everyone had fun messing with Molly and Lucy, and asking young Lily intrusive questions about her third-year boyfriend.

At the end of the night, with everyone preparing to leave, we all walked outside to be met by a giant display of fireworks set up by Fred's dad. Everyone cheered them on late into the night, until the final sparks had died and it was time to leave.

/

Caitlin POV:

We were heading back to the Burrow for the third straight night. This night was different, though. It was my birthday. I was wondering whether Will had forgotten, though. I had been expecting him to walk over during the day, but he didn't, and when Rose and I went over there, Mr. and Mrs. Potter told us that all of their kids had gone out.

Anyway, it had been a good day anyway. I was finally allowed to use magic on my own. I thought back to our days in New York, when we had been trying to survive until this date.

This thinking got me even more pissed off at Will. _Will would never forget my birthday. So then where the hell is he?_ I thought angrily.

Around six o'clock, we headed to the fire and traveled to the Burrow once again. I stepped out the fireplace, not at all expecting the yells that pierced the silence as I emerged.

"SURPRISE!" yelled the entirely Weasley clan (about thirty people). I looked around for a minute, and then realized they were yelling at me. Then Will jumped down from the chair on which he was standing and hugged me.

Mrs. Weasley and Rose soon followed suit, and soon everyone was surrounding me with excited chatter, discussing my newly found adulthood.

"You asshole!" exclaimed James. "You get to use magic and I still have to wait two months? Not fair!"

I laughed, and we continued on to the table. Apparently everyone had chipped in and bought me a couple of presents. This was enough to almost overwhelm me. Only Will had ever gotten me a birthday gift before.

I received some nice new clothes and shoes from all of the adults. Rose got me a homework planner (Fun stuff) but also got me a nice scarf in the Gryffindor colors. Fred got me a bag off his Dad's favorite products. My personal favorite was the daydreaming one. It would be quite useful for Ancient Runes.

James had bought me a beautiful necklace, with a jade pendant shaped like a dragon. I discovered that it changed colors depending on the mood I was in.

"Now you won't have to tell me when you're in a bad mood. I'll just know." He said simply.

It was so touching that I rushed forward and hugged him. Everyone cooed, and I broke away, embarrassed. _Had to ruin my moment_, I thought crossly.

"Had to steal the damn show, didn't' you, James?" Laughed Will, coming forward with his gift.

I opened the rather large box, not expecting much. After all, Will didn't really have much money to buy a gift for me, did he? Inside there was a complete surprise.

My eyes were met by the large yellow eyes of a completely black cat. It stared back up at me, unblinking. I gasped in shock.

"How-how did you-pay for this?" I asked.

"It's from Al and I. He chipped in…a lot." Al grinned, and I smiled back, overwhelmed at the fact that everyone had been so thoughtful.

"Well now, Caitlin, now that you're of age…I suppose it would be alright, wouldn't it?" Ron looked questioningly at his wife, and then brought out a small glass of firewhiskey from inside one of the cabinets.

"You kids can each have one glass. Not you, Hugo!"

Hugo huffed off, annoyed.

We had fun for the rest of the night. Not too much fun, but we had fun.

/

It was Christmas at the Weasleys, and I woke up at the ungodly hour of eight o'clock to Rose screaming my name. I came downstairs, along with my cat, which I had named Midnight, to discover that the Potters and Will had come over already. Everyone looked quite excited, and we all gathered around the tree.

After everyone else had opened their presents, Will and I expected that we were done. What we did not expect was for the entire family to point at two intricately wrapped presents that still lay under the tree. They sat us down and put one of the presents in each of our laps.

"What….the…fuck….is…happening…" whispered Will slowly.

We hadn't gotten Christmas presents since we were two. Even back then the presents were things like school clothes and pencils, so we weren't expecting much at all.

They had gotten both of us fifty galleons. This came as an extremely welcome surprise. I mean, sentimental gifts were nice, but we were surviving right now on about twenty galleons left over from our school supplies fund.

I beamed at them, but then realized that we hadn't gotten them anything. Embarrassed, I turned to Will and deduced that he was thinking the exact same thing.

"We-we didn't get you anything." I stammered, looking apologetic.

"What?" scoffed Rose. "Of course you didn't have to!"

"Yeah, come on, Caitlin." Added James. "That's stupid."

Ginny and Hermione conceded, and assured us that we should not feel bad at all.

However, I couldn't help feeling sort of annoyed. I just couldn't stand it when I was, well, helpless.

We went into the kitchen, and sat together for a Christmas breakfast. I saw, at the end of the table, Ron and Harry discussing something feverishly. They looked quite worried. Then I noticed James looking at his father, eyebrows furrowed.

"Did you do something?" I asked, teasing him.

"No," he said, frowning. "They're talking about work. I know it. Dad told me last night…he told me that last week he had a close call with…"

I raised my eyebrows, egging him on.

"…An Inferius." He breathed.

I gasped. That was one of the most evil creatures known to man. I never thought I would ever see one in my entire life, but if they had gotten close to Mr. Potter, then we all needed to fear for our safety.

He seemed to sense my worry. "Nothing to worry about. It was far away from here. My Dad does all kinds of traveling when he's working." He said this airily, trying to guide the conversation away from such a dark topic.

/

We headed to the Burrow later that day for Christmas dinner. We were quickly becoming friends with the rest of the Weasley cousins. My favorite by far was Dominique. She was extremely cool.

Anyway, after Christmas dinner, we were all sitting by the fire. Will was telling some story about a game he played in Salem, and everyone was hanging on to his every word.

I slipped away and headed into the kitchen. I grabbed myself a glass of water, as I was extremely thirsty.

"Thirsty?" A voice asked from behind me. James had followed me into the kitchen.

"A bit." I answered, as he got a glass of pumpkin juice. We stood there quietly for a minute, until he broke the silence.

"Did you ever find out who you parents were?" he asked.

"No. Never really cared." I answered shortly. This was a lie. I had thought about my parents many times before. I would've given anything I owned to know their names, see their faces-but that didn't prevent me from feeling bitter about the way they had left Will and I to fend for ourselves.

"Why not?" he pushed.

"I don't know." I answered, raising my voice slightly. My necklace turned a fiery orange.

He noticed this, and some mild alarm crossed his face. Then he asked again,

"They must have been magical. They probably were. You and Will being magical, they had to be. And maybe they…"

I cut him off. "Just-I don't want to…"

Before I could finish my sentence, the rest of the cousins entered the kitchen.

"Ah, here are the lovebirds!" exclaimed Fred. _Curse him._

Everyone laughed, and our faces turned beet-red.

"What're you doing in here?" asked Rose.

"Just…getting some water." I muttered.

"Yea, right." Smirked Dom.

"Getting a whole lot more than water." Snickered Fred.

Everyone howled with laughter, and the dragon on my necklace turned a deep shade of red.

In his fit of hysteric laughter, he was easy to overpower. I dragged him outside, off of the porch, and threw him into the snow. Then I proceeded to shovel snow into his face, making him beg for mercy and everyone around us cry with mirth. Even Fred's dad joined in.

All in all, Christmas at the Burrow was quite eventful. But it was going to get a whole lot more eventful.

/

Will POV:

It was late. Way past midnight. I couldn't really get any sleep. I was down the road outside of the Potters, still trying to walk off the effects of that delicious Christmas dinner.

I had walked to the end of the lane and stopped, reflecting on the day's events. I couldn't believe the readiness with which the Potters and the Weasleys welcomed people into their lives.

They had known us for about twenty seconds, and all of a sudden they were buying us Christmas gifts.

I shook my head, chuckling to myself in disbelief. I was at Hogwarts, staying at the house of Harry Potter and his family. _Imagine if you had said that too Caitlin and I four months ago_, I thought to myself.

I began to walk back down the lane when I heard a rustle behind me. Turning and looking, I saw nothing in the murky shadows cast by the trees. _I shouldn't be out this late._ I thought to myself. _This is so stupid._

I began to turn and run, trying to get back to the house as fast as possible. My instinct was telling me that I should get back to the house. Then, a different instinct kicked in. I felt oddly…unprotected.

Reaching in my pocket, I found that it was empty. Cursing myself, I made my way back along the lane, where I saw it lying in the place I was standing. I went to retrieve it.

I picked it up, and then heard a low growl. I turned around. There, right in front of me, was a gaunt corpse limping towards me, its milky eyes glistening in the sunlight. There was blood on its face and neck, and was wearing faded jeans and a T-shirt. It opened its mouth, baring its teeth, advancing towards me with a hungry determination that seemed to show in its blank, staring eyes.

I had no chance to breathe before it was on me. My wand was once again knocked to the ground, just out of my reach. The mottled hands of the Inferius closed around my neck. I screamed and kicked, thrashing at the Inferius, but it couldn't feel anything. I desperately hoped somebody would hear me.

Its mouth came closer to my neck, as strongly as I pushed it away. The corpse dripped a mix of blood and saliva onto my shirt as it widened its mouth and bared its teeth. I pushed my hands up, grasping its neck, and calling in my final reserves of strength, tried to keep its snarling mouth away from my body. I could feel the dead hands work their way down to my chest, and its fingernails dug into my ribcage, drawing blood. I screamed louder, but nobody would hear me. They were too far away. No help was coming. I was alone.

**Cliffhanger! Hope you guys liked it! Next chapter will be up soon! Please Review! Tell me what you think and all of that good stuff! Thanks a lot!**


	14. Shotgun Snow

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_***Previously***_

_I had no chance to breathe before it was on me. My wand was once again knocked to the ground, just out of my reach. The mottled hands of the Inferius closed around my neck. I screamed and kicked, thrashing at the Inferius, but it couldn't feel anything. I desperately hoped somebody would hear me._

_ Its mouth came closer to my neck, as strongly as I pushed it away. The corpse dripped a mix of blood and saliva onto my shirt as it widened its mouth and bared its teeth. I pushed my hands up, grasping its neck, and calling in my final reserves of strength, tried to keep its snarling mouth away from my body. I could feel the dead hands work their way down to my chest, and its fingernails dug into my ribcage, drawing blood. I screamed louder, but nobody would hear me. They were too far away. No help was coming. I was alone. _

**Chapter 14: Shotgun Snow**

Will POV:

I felt the Inferius digging its clawed fingers into my flesh, and despaired. In a minute it would be over, and I would be a globule of innards and blood on the side of the road, forgotten.

Then I saw Caitlin's face inside my head. I saw Al and Rose, and the Potters and Weasleys. I remembered New York, and our old life. Then I saw our new one. And I reminded myself that still, there were still things worth living for.

With the last of my remaining energy I curled my legs up and tilted myself backwards, swinging upward with a well-aimed kick to the corpse's face. It faltered. It seemed as though its head was the place to hit.

Struggling to stand up, I was on my knees while the Inferius recovered. It limped after me, gathering speed, as I crawled into the trees that were just on the side of the road.

I heard it behind me in the underbrush, eager to recapture its prey. As it closed in, with a massive effort, I pulled myself to my feet and began to run. I turned, and over my shoulder, shot a Stunning Spell. It hit the Inferius right in its head, and had barely any effect.

After attempting at least five other curses, I abandoned my attempts, turned, and began to run again. Snow had begun to fall through the slits between the trees, and I chanced a quick look at my wound.

To put it kindly, it didn't look good. A dark red stain had penetrated through my second layer of clothing, and there was a trail of blood seeping out of my stomach just below the ribs, soaking the snow and dying it a truly horrifying color.

I heard the Inferius behind me gaining speed, limping through the snow, disturbing branches and causing rifts of snow to fall to the ground in its wake.

I leapt ahead, and took cover behind a wide oak tree. Picking up a large rock from the ground, I waited behind the tree, taking deep, steadying breaths.

Luckily, Inferi, or as Muggles call them, zombies, don't have very good tactics or overall comprehension. The corpse that had been chasing me stumbled straight past the tree, smelling human flesh. It walked a step past me, and I whistled softly.

The Inferius turned its head, and was met with a large smack across the forehead. It fell to the ground, still snarling. Quickly, I bashed at it with the jagged rock, not stopping until it was completely still, its head squashed into the ground.

I rested for a minute, and then examined my wound. It didn't look good. The Inferius had very nearly torn apart my chest, ripping my ribcage open. As it was, I was bleeding profusely from the finger-shaped holes just below my ribs.

As I performed a few quick healing spells (underage magic would be fine, as I was still close to the Potter residence), I thought of trying to make my way back to the house. I had ventured deep into the woods, and wasn't entirely sure of which way I needed to go.

I severed a part of my jacket and bound the wound, ready to head back to the road. I ventured back to where I had previously been, as evidenced by the spots of blood that had dripped onto the snow.

I was very near the road when I heard rustling, similar to last time, but much louder. Common sense giving in to boldness, I began to climb a gnarled tree. When I had gotten to the top of the trunk, I pushed aside a branch so that I could see the country lane.

I gasped at what I saw. A horde of about 30 Inferi was traipsing up the road, heading straight for the two houses that were just up the road. I noticed a few of the creatures congregating around the spot that I had been attacked. With a jolt I realized that they were examining my blood, which would attract them. Quite inconvenient for a person in my situation, even with the cuts bound and, for the most part, treated.

I was ready to make a run back to the house through the woods, out the back way. I was confident I could beat the limping corpses to the spot and warn everybody of the impending danger coming at them from the road.

It was then that a loud sound rang out through the dark, quiet night. It was like a small explosion, ringing through the air, and I recognized it as one I had heard before.

I remembered seeing a Muggle farm down the next road from the Potters' house. I looked back at the herd, which had stopped, and was standing still, turned in my direction. As I watched, most of the horrific creatures stayed on the road, continuing towards the house, while some came off of the road, heading towards the woods-towards me. I was caught between two choices.

My Gryffindor courage and civic duty winning out, I quickly shimmied back down the tree. The Inferi would be here in about ten seconds. Getting moving very fast, still breathing hard because of my injury, I hurried out of the other side of the brush, towards the farm about 200 yards from my position.

I heard another shot, and ran faster. As I reached the fence, I saw a horrible scene-A Muggle man trapped against his own barn, surrounded by four Inferi. They closed in on him. I watched him shoot one in the chest, but it continued to come.

As one was about to close in, the farmer shot it right through the head. This killed it instantly, and it came to the ground slowly and clumsily, once again dead.

I ran towards the man, as fast as possible, but I saw him drop his gun, knocked away by the flailing hands of the dead. He backed up against the wall, terrified. I was a second too late, as the Inferi closest to him sank their teeth into the man's neck and thigh.

/

Caitlin POV:

Rose had come into my room to wake me up. It was the middle of the night. She had heard a loud noise, as had her family. I got up, and headed over to the window, where she was standing, motionless.

There was a herd of undead, around twenty, heading up the road towards our house. As we watched, some broke off and headed towards the Potters.

"Inferi." I breathed. "Oh sh-" my voice was cut off as two hands clamped over Rose and my mouth. We turned in horror to see Mr. Weasley, as he put a finger over his lips, motioning us to be quiet, and then beckoned for us to follow him.

We went downstairs quickly and quietly, and Rose, Hugo, and I waited as Mr. Weasley talked quietly and emotionally with his wife, who hugged him tearfully and made her way over to us. We all (with the exception of Mr. Weasley) clambered into the fireplace, and Mrs. Weasley whispered, "The Potters!"

We vanished, only to arrive across the road in the Potters' house. We found the whole family except for Al and Will downstairs, looking worried. James rushed over to me and hugged me quickly.

"Where's Will?" I whispered.

"Al's upstairs getting him." He replied.

Just then, Al came downstairs, alone.

"Dad…Dad! I can't find him! He's not in his room, or anywhere else!"

He noticed me, but didn't change his wide-eyed expression of fear. Just as I was about to freak out, Rose jumped in.

"Caitlin, it's okay. We're going to look again, we're going to find him." She put her hand on my arm, steadying me.

We went upstairs and searched, but Will was nowhere to be found.

"It's time." Said Mr. Potter. "You have to go."

The Inferi were at the door, and some had begun to pound on it.

"He'll be fine," said James. "He got away, he escaped, and he's fine."

These lies did not comfort me as tears streamed down my face.

"I'm not leaving him!" I wailed, at the point of hysterics. The Inferi intensified their scratching and clawing, and we were startled by the sound of broken glass. They had gotten through the window.

"Ginny! Go! Now!" bellowed Mr. Potter as he stepped forward to face the horde. With a pop, he Disapparated, reappearing outside in an effort to draw the Inferi away.

"We can't!" I shouted. "I can't!"

A pair of strong arms grabbed me and dragged me into the enlarged fireplace. I struggled against James as he restrained me, as I was trying feverishly to get out. It was to no avail. Mrs. Potter said, "The Burrow!" and we were whisked away to the safety of the homely, lopsided structure, many miles away.

/

As soon as we were out of the fireplace I broke free and ran, out of the door and onto the lawn. James came sprinting after me, catching up and holding me back as I attempted to run to Godric's Hollow myself. I collapsed, falling onto the ground, sobbing with my face in my hands. He sat with me for a long while, his arm around my shoulder, murmuring, "It's okay, it's okay," over and over again.

"He'll be fine." He said soothingly. In a rage I escaped his grasp and leapt up.

"HE WILL NOT! HE'LL BE DEAD! OR EATEN! OR WORSE! BECAUSE OF YOU! YOU JUST LEFT HIM THERE! AND YOU DRAGGED ME HERE!"

"I COULDN'T LET YOU GO KILL YOURSELF! Get a damn grip!" He said, on his feet and yelling right back at me.

"Why the fuck not? I had to at least try! You dragged me away, against my will! It wasn't your choice to make!" I bellowed, walking off a ways and kneeling down, crying once again.

In about half an hour, I saw a dazzling light shoot across the sky. It soared downwards, heading straight for the house. As I watched, it entered, and I ran back to the house to see what it was.

As I walked through the door I saw everyone staring at a Patronus-a silvery white stag. A spark of hope leapt up within my mind. It spoke to us in Mr. Potter's voice:

"Inferi cleared out. No sign of Will. Looking now. We'll come when it's safe."

And the stag flickered and disappeared, leaving me just as hopeless as before.

James tried to come over and talk to me, make me see reason.

"Just go away." I muttered as he approached me. I turned on my heel and headed back outside.

/

Harry POV:

"Hey Ron, over here."

"What is it?"

They were in the woods, after disposing of the Inferi with their extensive magical knowledge. They had seen the blood on the road, and had traced it into the woods.

"Looks like the trail starts back up again." Harry whispered, following the droplets of fresh blood as they led across the woods to the other side. They emerged from the forest, and came across the fence leading into the Muggle farm whose owners Harry knew fairly well.

"Oh no." whispered Ron as they approached the shed. They saw pools of blood, and at least six corpses on the ground. "What do we tell Caitlin? Oh no…"

"Wait." Said Harry. As the Head Auror, he was accustomed to scenes like this, and knew that it would be foolish to not examine the entire scene. He examined the bodies closely, to find that there were six Inferi piled on top of one mutilated farmer. Harry turned his head away in disgust at the smell and sorrow for his Muggle acquaintance.

"Will's not here." Noted Ron. "You don't think he was ever here?

"He was here." Replied Harry. 'There's blood coming all the way from our road to this farm. He must have been bleeding out pretty badly."

"Harry-" started Ron warningly.

Harry held a hand up. "I know." He said simply.

The two Aurors began to walk around the barn, looking for where he might have gone. They didn't notice the disfigured farmer stand up. They didn't hear him limping along behind them, closing in…

"Harry!" yelled Ron.

Harry turned around, seeing the Inferius closing in for the kill, and then its blood was splattered all over his face. He wiped his glasses clean of the muck to notice the farmer lying, once again dead, on the ground, and then noticed someone else.

Will was standing right where the farmer had been, holding a shotgun still aimed straight ahead, with a hardened expression on his face. He looked around, and then cracked a grin.

"You have NO idea what I have been through tonight!"

**Didn't leave you hanging for too long, did I? I had a great time writing this chapter, lots of action and stuff going on! Please review and tell me what you thought. I was overwhelmed by the response to the last chapter, as I had four reviews in about an hour, which was extremely awesome, so thanks to everyone for that! I have final exams coming up, and a busy weekend, so I'll try to get one or two chapters out before then, just a heads up. Also, to anyone who cares in the slightest, I know that there are some discrepancies between Rowling's Inferi and these things, but its Fanfiction and I wanted to go for a mix between Inferi and the classic zombies. If you have any suggestions for stuff like that, make sure to leave a review! Thanks a lot!**


	15. Family Reunion

**Sorry for the long wait! Read and Review!**

**Chapter 15: Family Reunion**

Will POV:

"What the flying-er-fudge-were those…things?"

"Inferi." Said Harry shortly. I rolled my eyes.

"Yeah, got there on my own. Were they all just dead people some wizard reanimated?" I replied.

We were walking back to the house, and my mind was working fast, trying to process what had just happened.

"Well," said Harry, struggling to find an acceptable answer, "Inferi are reanimated by Dark Magic. However, it is only their brain that is reanimated. Only the instinctive part. So, once reanimated, all they know how to do is-"

"Eat." Ron finished for him, as I shuddered, thinking of the Inferi that had been on top of me just two hours ago.

"Yes. Well, when the Inferi bite you, they transfer their…condition to you. Anyone who is bitten will, over a period of time, become one of them."

"But…" I said slowly, "That still doesn't explain why they were here."

Both of them looked at me questioningly. I continued, unfazed.

"They were right in your backyard! Surely that wasn't a coincidence. Head of the Auror Department, you killed Voldemort, hundreds of wizard must want you dead!"

"Try thousands." Said Ron helpfully.

"Why not millions?" said Harry, in an attempt at sarcasm.

He addressed me, "I don't know why they were here. Nor do I understand everything about these creatures. This much is clear, however. They didn't turn up on this road by accident. Someone sent them here. I don't know who, but whoever it is, we will find them. Now, we should be getting back to them."

We arrived at the Potter house, which had a few broken windows and a heavily trampled front lawn. The smell was absolutely unbearable. We walked inside, and stepped into the fire. With a shout of "The Burrow!" we were whisked away by the roaring flames.

/

Caitlin POV:

I don't remember how long I waited by the bank of the small pond, alone, shocked. I just couldn't wrap my head around it. For the first time in a long time, I felt completely and utterly alone.

The Patronus had not reassured me. In fact, it made me less confident that Will would come back. I thought back to the loud noise that had woke me up. That might have been him, making his final stand. There just wasn't a way that he could have survived a horde of those disgusting creatures.

I sat by the pond, sobbing silently. No tears escaped my eyes, as they had already all been spilt. James hadn't tried to come back out. Smart boy. I never noticed him standing on the porch, watching me silently.

I knew it was irrational to blame him, or anyone else for that matter. I wasn't proud of it, but blaming somebody made me feel a bit better. I needed someone to blame, someone to pin this on. Without that, I might go crazy, or even worse, might blame myself.

Even as I continued to sit, I thought of how I had left. It had all happened so fast, but I couldn't push away the thought that I could have found him, should have found him, should have tried harder, should have looked more…. Maybe it _was_ my fault.

Dawn came, and as soon as the first light appeared on the horizon I heard a whooshing sound come from inside. I stood up slowly, dreading what was to come.

Entering through the front door, I headed into the room where everyone was crowding around the fireplace. I saw Mr. Potter and Mr. Weasley, and they turned to me, as I noticed they were alone.

Mr. Potter tried to say something, as tears began to spill down my face in earnest. I turned to walk back out again, but as I did, I heard a voice say,

"You didn't honestly think that I would let a couple of drooling corpses kill me, did you?"

I turned around in shock, to see Will standing in the fireplace, a slight grin on his face.

"Apparently you did. I'm quite disappointed." He said sniffily, turning his nose up in the air in a good impression of Professor Macmillan.

He couldn't get another word out, as I ran towards him, engulfing him in a gigantic hug.

"I-I thought…"

"I know. I know." He said quietly.

I pulled back, and proceeded to hit him over and over again.

"What-in-hell-were-you-thinking-you-moron-going-outside-like-that-with-500-dead-bodies-waiting-for-you?"

I stopped, out of breath, and noticed him staring at me with a twinkle in his eye, supremely unaffected by my weak blows. Then I noticed the dark red stain on his shirt.

"Your hurt." I breathed, and he waved me off.

"It's nothing, I'm fine, and Mr. Potter patched me up."

Turning around to thank him, I saw all of the Potters and the Weasleys looking back at us with bemused expressions, as if they were enjoying the show.

With a laugh, we all sat down and drank the hot chocolate that Mrs. Weasley so graciously prepared for us. We sat and laughed late into the night. James looked at me with a weak smile, but I looked away.

/

It was the last day of break, and we were ready to return to Hogwarts, something that I was quite looking forward to. The Weasley house had been fully repaired, but the stench of rotting flesh lingered, and I didn't think I would be able to take it much longer.

"Rose! Get down here this instant!" screeched Mrs. Weasley. She was a bit fussy when in a hurry.

"Sorry mum! Forgot my Runes book!" shouted Rose, hurrying downstairs. We all headed outside and got into the car, where the Potters were waiting for us. Rose climbed into the back to sit next to Al and Will, leaving me with one seat-next to James.

I hesitated, and Lily said in a bored fashion, "Come now, we haven't got all day! You two lovebirds can manage sitting next to each other for ten minutes now, can't you?"

I sat down, my face and neck a bright shade of puce. James turned to his sister in disbelief, and I heard a guffaw from the backseat. Turning, I saw Will and Al, shaking with laughter, and Rose grinning at me.

Even the adults laughed, making me even more uncomfortable.

The car lurched forward, and with the jab of a button, we rose up into the air, flying quickly towards the station.

/

Will POV:

We arrived at the station with barely any time to spare, Al and I still chuckling at Lily's joke. She was hilarious.

With a minute left on the clock, we rushed through the wall and ended up on the platform.

I turned to Caitlin. "Never going to get used to that, I said." Soon, we were on the train just in time; waving at the Potters and the Weasleys, ready to go back to Hogwarts.

/

Caitlin POV:

Everyone found a seat together, except for Lily and Hugo, who went off in search of their third-year friends. Fred and Sydney, who had apparently been looking for us together, soon joined us.

Sydney immediately rushed towards me and hugged me. She had probably heard about our Christmas shenanigans from the paper, which had published a lengthy story about the Inferi sightings in Godric's Hollow.

Later in the ride, Rose left, only to return with her slimy boyfriend. There was something about his face that really, really made me hate him. As Will so politely put it, there was something about that face that made him want to punch it.

Scorpius lazily sauntered into the compartment, smirking at James, Fred, and Al. We all could see the paper that he was clutching in his hand, and he seemed to be itching to show it to us.

"Inferi Sightings in Potter's Backyard." He drawled. Will pretended to retch at the sound of his voice, making all but one of us crack up.

He ran his eyes over Will disdainfully, then continued:

"Head of Auror office can't even keep his own family safe. Story of trouble on the outskirts of Godric's Hollow."

Putting down the paper, he smiled at us. "So, how was your Christmas? Eventful, I heard. Any close calls? Oh! I hope one of them got Turner…oh wait, he's still here. Oh well." He laughed smartly at his clever joke.

"It's about to get a whole lot more eventful," growled Fred, staring daggers at Scorpius.

He looked at Rose, who wasn't laughing with him. "What's up with you?" he muttered, while digging into a Pumpkin Pasty.

"Good one, Malfoy. Really witty, I mean, coming from the guy who's daddy probably set all those corpses on us." Said Al dryly, looking away

Malfoy reddened. He would not stand for insults about his father.

He stood up suddenly. Everyone simply looked at him, bored, but Will mirrored his action, facing him head-on, their noses almost touching.

"You got something to say, say it." Said Will quietly.

Malfoy was quiet, staring him down. He didn't look pleased about the opportunity to cross with Will in a fight, Muggle or Magic.

"I'll take that as a no," said Will, and suddenly his wand was slipped out of his pocket, pointing discreetly towards Malfoy, who turned and walked out of door. However, he didn't get out before Fred whispered a spell his way, making him dance uncontrollably like an idiot, anger written all across his face. We all laughed, except for Rose, who stormed outside and performed the counter curse. Then, she came back inside, looking livid.

"You all are the worst! What the fuck!" She slapped Fred across the face, and then left, almost in tears.

"Wow." Said Al. "What was that?"

"Yeah, it's not like he didn't deserve it." Said Will. "Nice one, by the way, Fred."

Fred nodded reverently before standing up and taking a small bow.

/

Will POV:

We were finally back, and classes would start tomorrow. Tonight, however, everyone was going crazy.

James had burst in around nine, yelling about a party in the Room of Requirement. I had no idea what that meant, but everyone else whooped and followed him out of the common room. Even Al had gone, leaving me alone with Rose, who was studying beside the fire.

I walked over to her. "Hey, so-um-sorry about earlier with Scorpius. I guess we were all a bit out of line." She turned to me, and sighed.

"No, I shouldn't have yelled, I'm just so sick of my family being all protective of me. It's so annoying."

"Yeah…" I replied, unable to relate. "Anyway, you're studying too much. Your brain is going to explode. C'mon, lets go to the Room of Requiring or whatever."

Her eyes lit up. "Oh! You must not know what that is! I'll show you!"

We headed along the hallway, and came out of a shortcut in a seventh-floor corridor. Nothing but a blank wall stared back at us, and I still didn't know where we were going. I turned to Rose in confusion.

"Ask it." She said, smiling slightly. "Ask it for the party."

I looked skeptical, but decided to try it. After thinking for a while in my head, _where is the Gryffindor party?_ A giant door, striped red and gold, appeared on the wall. Shaking my head in disbelief, I opened the door and entered the party.

/

Not to my surprise, Caitlin, James, Fred, and Sky, were right in the center of the giant room, looking fairly plastered already.

I was separated from Al and Rose, and found myself wandering by the speakers that were blaring music. I winced as I stepped in front of one and the sound blasted my eardrums. With my hands clamped over my ears, I headed back to the drinks table.

"Hey Will!" Came a bright voice to my right. I noticed another fifth year, Ashley Thomas.

"Hey," I said, thrown off by the fact that she was alone.

"So, how was your break? I heard you stayed at the Potters'."

"Yep. It was…eventful." We both laughed. "How about yours?"

"Great!" She grinned. "We saw, like five Quidditch games."

"Awesome."

"So…you want to dance?"

"Um…sure." I replied, as we headed off to the center of the room.

**How'd you guys like it? It was a bit of a filler, but oh well. Sorry again for the long update time, I've been really busy the last few days. Please Review! I love to hear your suggestions and critiques. Need to thank mixandmingle, LizLuvsDoggies, and Cherry for the awesome reviews! Please keep it up! Hopefully I'll have a new chapter up soon, I just thought you guys deserved an update.**


	16. Calculated Risks

**Read and Review!**

**Chapter 16: Calculated Risks**

Caitlin POV:

I rolled off of my bed, slurring insults at Sydney tiredly.

"Get up, we have class in 20 minutes!"

"Shit." I muttered, getting up slowly. I changed, showered, and went down to breakfast in a matter of about 5 minutes. We headed down to breakfast. I plopped myself down onto a bench, and began wolfing down a bowl of cereal.

"Well, well. Someone's hungry this morning." James' voice rang out cheekily from beside me.

"Piss off." I said smartly, continuing my breakfast. I was still fairly angry at him for Christmas, and we hadn't talked too much since then.

"Well then." He said resignedly, and sat down next to Sydney. Sydney looked at me pityingly, and I stared daggers back at her. She was the only one who could read my mind. She was the only one who could figure out the real reason I kept pushing James away.

"Good morning children!" Came Fred's jubilant voice, as he sat down beside me.

"It's done?" asked James discreetly.

"What's done?" I asked, sticking my head between them.

"Better stick that nose back in your own business, or we'll have to cut it off." Said James in a singsong voice. I glanced at him disdainfully before turning to Fred expectantly.

"Oh, we just put invisible glue on Filch's chair. Nothing fancy." He said nonchalantly, continuing his breakfast.

I snorted with laughter, and so did Sydney, who slopped her drink down her shirt in the process. Now it was James and Fred's turn to howl with laughter, and my turn to look at Sydney pityingly. I could read her mind too. She was looking so embarrassed; it was hard not to feel sorry for her.

"Oh, screw you." I said to James and Fred. "Don't you have somewhere to be?"

"We would never be early to class, you know that." Said Fred, sounding hurt.

"I meant peeking through the door to Filch's office, waiting to see if your detention wish will come true."

"By Merlin, she's right!" exclaimed James, pretending to look at the non-existent watch on his hand.

"Excuse us, ladies." They both headed out of the Great Hall.

"Thanks." Muttered Sydney, her face still red. We headed out of the hall and off to class.

/

Will POV:

The final bell had rung, and classes were over. Al and I walked into the Great Hall, where most of the school had already gathered for dinner.

"Over here, Will!" Came a bright voice next to me as I walked down the aisle. I saw Ashley sitting with two of her friends. Al and I sat across from them, and began dinner.

We had been back at Hogwarts for about a week, and ever since the party, I had started to hang out with Ashley a lot more. She was really nice, and pretty funny as well.

Al dug into his dinner, while Ashley's two friends stared at him. This was the general reaction from a girl when a Potter would sit across from her. Ashley and I looked at each other and laughed.

Al looked up from his dinner. "What?" he asked.

I nodded towards Ashley's friends, who stopped staring and looked down awkwardly. Ashley hit the one closest to her.

"Oh, stop fawning." She said with a roll of her eyes.

Al smirked. "It's okay. Nothing I can't deal with." He turned to me.

"I'm gonna check up on James, see if he made any headway on that…project of his.

I nodded, smiling. We all knew what his "project" was. Everyone in Gryffindor knew that Caitlin and James were perfect for each other, and everyone was dying to see them together. However, Caitlin was a tough nut to crack.

I looked down the table, and saw Caitlin yelling at James about something. _You know, if she hated him so much, you'd think she wouldn't sit with him at every meal_, I thought.

Turning back to Ashley, I saw that her two friends had left. She was looking down the table as well.

"What's-uh-going on- between your sister and James."

"I don't know-" I said measuredly. She looked at me, eyebrows raised.

"-Where to begin." I finished. Ashley giggled, a laugh that died in her throat as Polly Parkinson approached us, standing right behind me.

I turned my head at Parkinson, accompanied by two other Slytherin girls, yawned, and faced my dinner again, making a face towards Ashley.

She laughed again, and then looked at Parkinson expectantly.

"Don't think much of your taste, Thomas. The crackhead, really?"

I chuckled silently, still not looking at Parkinson. It was well known that she bullied mostly younger girls. Some girls were scared of her, but I thought she was pathetic. Also, she was fairly ugly. And, on second thought, fat.

Ashley stared back at her, defiant. The slight red tinge in her cheeks disappeared as quickly as it had come.

"Fuck off, Parkinson. Go screw Malfoy in a cupboard again. And, did I hear correctly, Gibbon as well? Interesting choice. He's a little…pudgy, wouldn't you say?"

Parkinson's face grew red as well. I finished the thought for Ashley.

"It's an icebreaker, I guess. They probably talked about their diets, and one thing led to another…"

We both laughed as Parkinson stormed off. We followed her out of the hall soon after, heading back up to the common room.

"Thanks." She said.

"For what?" I asked.

"Parkinson." She replied, looking away.

"Hey, you did pretty well yourself! Embarrassed her in front of everybody. That was pretty impressive!" I said, punching her lightly on the arm. She shoved me back.

"You know, I—" Her words were lost in the high, cold drawl of Scorpius Malfoy.

"Well, well! What have we here? Two lovers out for a nighttime stroll in the moonlight?"

Both of our wands were immediately out and pointed at the lone figure standing in front of us, but they were soon out of our hands, as two sixth year Slytherins disarmed us from behind.

Ashley's wand bounced off of the wall, harmless. I saw mine float through the air and disappear into the broom cupboard just a few steps away.

Eyeing the cupboard, I looked back at Malfoy warily. The two sixth years joined him in front of us, their wands trained on us.

"Never paid you back for that business on the train, Turner." Said Malfoy with a smirk.

"Speaking of payment, how much is he giving you?" I muttered towards the sixth years, who glared at me with dark, troll-like eyes.

"Now, now, mustn't be rude! Hands up, both of you, or we'll send you to the hospital wing the hard way!" said Malfoy in rather lame threat.

I looked at Ashley, who had her hands up, looking scared. I kept calm, and slowly, raised my fists, middle fingers outstretched.

"NOT A GOOD IDEA, TURNER!" bellowed Malfoy, firing a jinx at me. I danced out of the way, and grabbing Ashley, pushed her into the cupboard, avoiding the hexes of Malfoy's cronies.

I grabbed my wand and summoned Ashley's. It flew into her hands before I shut and locked the door.

I turned to Ashley. "We have about five seconds before they unlock this. I'll distract them, you wait a while and run as fast as you can to the Common Room."

"No! I'll help you!" She protested. I held her back.

"Stop! I'll be fine."

I stood at the door, wand at the ready.

"What are you doing?" asked Ashley, trying not to panic.

"Taking a calculated risk." I muttered.

"ALOHOMORA!" Came Malfoy's voice.

"EXPULSO!" I shouted, and the door exploded backwards, collapsing on Malfoy, trapping him against the wall. His henchmen helped me up, but I was already down the hall. I stopped and turned around.

Malfoy was getting up. His two thugs turned towards me, and I fired a few jinxes at them to make sure they followed me. They ran after me, and I saw Ashley slip out of the closet and run the opposite way.

I laughed at Malfoy running at me, egging him on. When he got too dangerously close, I took off around the corner. I was faster than them; it was just a matter of navigating my way around the castle.

I raced up a staircase, dodging a curse, and weaving through a group of terrified second years. Looking back, I saw the Slytherins barrel over them and keep running after me.

I knew where my shortcut would be. I would double back and reach the Common Room, and safety. It should be just up here…. now….

_Fuck…missed it._

I kept running, but stop around one turn. It was a dead end.

_Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck. _

I turned around, to see the Slytherins standing there, triumphant. Before my wand was out of my pocket, I was disarmed again. Soon, I was on the ground, and they were kicking and stomping on every inch of me they could reach.

I shut my mind off. I thought of other things, forgetting about the pain. They didn't have the pleasure of me yelling, as I was silent, my mind peaceful. I thought of Caitlin, Al, Rose, Ashley…

Everything stopped. I looked at the ground, and was shocked too see my own blood on the ground. Malfoy came right up to my ear, and whispered, "Don't mess with me ever again, Turner. Last warning."

I didn't have much strength, but I had enough strength to flip him off. Probably not my best idea, but it felt pretty good.

They began to stomp again, and I felt at least one rib crack. I coughed up blood, and with one merciful strike to the face, everything went black.

/

Caitlin POV:

I ran out of the Common Room, following Al as he led me to the Hospital Wing.

He had burst into the Common Room just after nine, telling me Will was hurt and I had to come quick.

We wove through a few stragglers that were heading off to bed, running through hallways until we reached the Hospital Wing. I saw Fred, James, Rose, and Ashley all sitting by the bed of an extremely bloody Will.

I gasped when I saw his face. His skin was purple and bruised, his eyes puffy and his nose bloody.

"Nothing to worry about, dear. Broken rib, and a broken nose again. Tsk, tsk. Well, we'll have him fixed up in no time." Said Madam Pomfrey, bustling in and out of the room, even in her old age.

"How-How did this happen?" I asked in disbelief, staring at my unconscious brother.

It was James who spoke.

"We don't know. Ashley ran into the Common Room and told us to go after him. She didn't explain much, but told us some kids had chased him. I found him in a corridor on the fifth floor, like this."

"How did you find him?" I asked suspiciously.

He glanced towards Madam Pomfrey. "I-I just got lucky, I guess."

Everyone continued to stare at Will. Ashley spoke up.

"It was Malfoy and some sixth years. Will distracted them so I could get away. I-I should have helped. I-I just ran. I…"

"You did fine." Said Al consolingly. "Without you, we wouldn't have found him. And we can deal with Malfoy."

We all averted our eyes from Rose, who was looking extremely conflicted.

Madam Pomfrey, who had been making a concerted effort to stay out of our conversation, ordered us out of the Hospital Wing at this point, saying that we could visit in the morning.

We went outside, and the fifth years headed back to the Common Room with Fred. That left James and I alone in the corridor.

"Why is it that the majority of the times I see him, he's covered in blood?" I asked to nobody in particular.

"He'll be fine. That's all that matters." Said James earnestly.

"Thanks for finding him."

"Just trying to help."

I nodded and hugged him tearfully.

After about a minute, I realized what I was doing and pulled away.

"I-I…" I stuttered, and, unable to finish my thought, I stumbled away, annoyed with myself, back to the Common Room.

**Sorry for not updating sooner! I'm trying to get more chapters out, just having trouble with ideas! Please Review! Leave thoughts and comments, critiques or compliments. I hope to have another chapter up soon. This story is not near the end yet, but I do sort of have a sequel planned. Please Review! Thanks a lot!**


	17. Better Than A Win

**Read and Review!**

**To anyone who does not understand, Ashley is Devon's twin. They are both in the fifth year. I just realized before writing this how confusing that might be.**

**Anyway…**

**Chapter 17: Better Than a Win**

Will POV:

I had gotten out of the Hospital Wing just in time for Saturday's game. Gryffindor had its second match of the year on the first Saturday of February, against Hufflepuff.

Caitlin, Al, and Ashley had taken it upon themselves to keep me company in the Hospital Wing. They made it bearable for the few days I was stuck in there. I hate hospitals.

Right after getting out of the Hospital Wing, I headed to the Common Room. It was fairly empty for a Saturday morning, as everyone was in the Great Hall having breakfast and preparing for the match.

I grabbed my robes and my broom, raced downstairs to the Gryffindor table, sat down next to Al, and began wolfing down eggs.

"Thank Merlin!" came James' voice from next to me. "We weren't sure you'd make it!"

"And miss the opportunity to beat up on Hufflepuff? Not a chance." I replied with a smirk. Looking to my other side, I saw Al with his head bent over his plate, not eating anything.

"What's wrong with you?" I asked, and he made a noncommittal grunt in my direction.

"Are you actually worried?" I asked in a disbelieving tone. "I've seen that team practice. They're GARBAGE. Eat some damn breakfast and get ready to have some fun."

My words sparked some reaction in him, as he began to eat.

"Yeah," added James. "It's a beautiful day for Quidditch!"

We all looked outside at the mess of sleet and rain that had gathered on the grounds and laughed.

"I mean, come on." I said. "What could be better than a win?"

/

Caitlin POV:

Sydney and I headed down to the pitch to watch the game.

"Where's Rose?" she asked.

"Don't know." I replied. "Haven't seen her much since the Hospital Wing incident."

Rose had been MIA since finding out that Scorpius had beaten up Will. I couldn't blame her. It had taken all of my strength to act nice to her, and I could only imagine how Will was feeling.

I did feel a bit bad for her. She was so caught in the middle when things like this happened. I mean, what could she possibly have seen in him?

Anyway, we headed down to the Quidditch field to watch Gryffindor play Hufflepuff. Pretty much everybody knew that Gryffindor would win, but it would be entertaining nonetheless.

I hadn't gotten to see Will since he got back from the Hospital Wing, but I reminded myself that he would be down at the field and I could simply talk to him after the game.

We headed up the stands and took seats high up in the air, with a good view of the game. I saw Rose sitting by herself at the far end of the Gryffindor side.

"_HELLO AND WELCOME TO TODAY'S MATCHUP, GRYFFINDOR VS. HUFFLEPUFF!" _The crowd cheered as Michael Goldstein began announcing.

"_GRYFFINDOR IS 1-0, HEAVY FAVORITES IN THIS ONE, GOING UP AGAINST HUFFLEPUFF, WHO HAS LOST TO RAVENCLAW. FOR GRYFFINDOR, THOMAS! TURNER! WEASLEY! MIDGEN! BAILEY! POTTER! AAAAAAAAND THE CAPTAIN, JAMES POTTER!"_

The Gryffindor side cheered as the team flew out onto the pitch and did a lap together.

"_AND FOR HUFFLEPUFF, IT'S DILLON! PIPER! BELBY! WALLERBY! COOPER! ALLEN! AAAAAAAND THE CAPTAIN, CLARK WARD!_"

Hufflepuff's captain was a burly seeker who did not look very smart or fast. Or able to catch the Snitch at all. The team was made up of three girls and four boys. They sailed out of the tunnel, met by a halfhearted applause from the Hufflepuffs.

"_NOW MADAM HOOCH WITH THE TOSS, THE QUAFFLE IS UP, AND IT BELONGS TO GRYFFINDOR! POTTER TAKES IT, HE'LL GIVE TO TURNER, TURNER FLIPS TO THOMAS, GRYFFINDOR ON THE OFFENSIVE RIGHT AWAY. ITS THOMAS, HE FAKES A PASS, STRAIGHT IN THERE FOR A SHOT AND…GRYFFINDOR SCORE! 10-0 IN FAVOR OF GRYFFINDOR!"_

Far below, I could see Ashley cheering on her brother loudly. The Hufflepuffs all groaned. A few of them even left.

"_NOW IT'S HUFFLEPUFF CHASER DILLON WITH THE QUAFFLE. HE WEAVES BETWEEN WEASLEY AND MIDGEN, NICE FEINT THERE! OFF TO PIPER! SHE'LL CARRY IT TO THE GRYFFINDOR SIDE AND PASS IT OFF TO BELBY. NOW JASON BELBY WITH THE QUAFFLE HE'S RIGHT AT TURNER NOW, PAST HIM WITH A NICE MOVE! ONLY ONE TO BEAT NOW! HE SCORES! TIE GAME!"_

The Hufflepuffs cheered, excited at their first points. I saw James bellowing instructions at Will, who looked mad.

"_NOW IT'S GRYFFINDOR WITH POSSESSION, TURNER WILL TAKE IT. HE MOVES PAST A BLUGER, DODGES BELBY AND HE'S ON HIS WAY! APPROACHING THE GOAL NOW! OH! TAKEN OUT THERE BY DILLON! TURNER ALMOST KNOCKED OFF HIS BROOM, NO FOUL CALLED!"_

The Gryffindor side was in an uproar as Will called, "What was that, ref? Come on, man! That shit's crazy!"

_"AND NOW A PENALTY ON GRYFFINDOR, THAT'S ON TURNER! MADAM HOOCH DIDN'T APPRECIATE THE LIP, APPARENTLY."_

The Gryffindors booed as Devon and James, trying to avoid another penalty, restrained Will from talking to Madam Hooch again.

_"ALRIGHT, SO PIPER PUTS THE PENALTY AWAY AND HUFFLEPUFF IS UP BY 10. THEY'LL START WITH THE BALL, AND ITS PIPER GIVING IT OFF TO BELBY. BELBY THE FEINT, NOW TOSSES TO DILLON. DILLON, READY TO GO, TRIES TO DODGE TO THE GOAL, AND LEVELED OUT THERE BY TURNER, NICE HIT. WEASLEY SENDS A BLUDGER THAT WAY, HUFFLEPUFF WILL LOSE IT. NOW IT'S THOMAS GOING THE OTHER WAY. HE GIVES TO POTTER, POTTER DODGES PIPER, TO THE GOAL, ONE TO BEAT…GREAT SAVE BY ALLEN! MAYA ALLEN WITH A GREAT STOP, AND HUFFLEPUFF GOES THE OTHER WAY. HUFFLEPUFF WITH THE OUTLET, ITS PIPER AHEAD OF THE FIELD, SHE DODGES THE BLUGDER FROM MIDGEN, RIGHT AROUND POTTER, THE FEED TO BELBY AND HUFFLEPUFF SCORE! ANOTHER GOAL FOR HUFFLEPUFF!"_

The game continued on in this way, with Hufflepuff simply overpowering Gryffindor, leading 70-10. Al had not caught sight of the Snitch, and neither had Ward, apparently.

_"NOW ITS JAMES POTTER, HASN'T SCORED YET. HE'S GOING TO GOAL, HE HAD TURNER OPEN, MISSED HIM, NOW HE'S HIT BY DILLON AND ITS PIPER TAKING THE BALL AWAY! PIPER TO THE GOAL! AROUND WEASLEY! SHE SCORES!"_

Another groan came from the Gryffindor side. It was 110-10 when James signaled to Madam Hooch for a timeout.

The Gryffindors came out the huddle looking chewed-out. Will, however, had a plain ugly look on his face. He was ready to take over.

_"NOW IT'S HUFFLEPUFF TO START WITH THE QUAFFLE, ITS DILLON TO PIPER, BACK TO DILLON, DILLON ALONG THE SIDELINE, HE'LL CARRY AND OH! BIG HIT BY TURNER, HE TAKES THE BALL AWAY! THAT'S CLEAN, HUFFLEPUFF!"_

A cry of outrage had swept over the pitch from the Hufflepuff side.

_"TURNER WITH THE QUAFFLE, GREAT DODGE AROUND PIPER, HE TOSSES THE BALL OVER BELBY AND CATCHES IT AGAIN! WHAT A MOVE! TO THE GOAL! ALLEN'S BEEN GREAT TODAY! HE SHOOTS- NO! HE PASSED TO POTTER, WHO PUTS IT AWAY! GRYFFINDOR DOWN BY 90!"_

The Gryffindor side cheered, and Will slapped James' hand on the way by.

_"GRYFFINDOR WITH SOME NEW ENERGY AFTER THAT TIMEOUT! IT'S PIPER WITH THE QUAFFLE! OH! SHE'S HIT BY A BLUDGER SENT BY WEASLEY! THOMAS TAKES IT! HE'LL PASS DOWN THE PITCH TO TURNER, WIDE OPEN! GRYFFINDOR SCORE! AND HAS POTTER SEEN THE SNITCH! YES, HE HAS! POTTER AND WARD GOING AFTER THE SNITCH! POTTER HAS IT! NO! BLUDGER FROM WALLERBY SAVES THE DAY! BUT GRYFFINDOR CAPITALIZED THREE TIMES! THAT'S TURNER WITH THE HEADS UP PLAY! GRYFFINDOR DOWN BY ONLY 50!"_

Will sailed around the pitch, with a finger pressed to his lip, taking in the cheers from the crowd.

_"NOW ITS PIPER TO DILLON! INTERCEPTED! THOMAS! GREAT PLAY! DOWN TO POTTER, TO TURNER, BACK TO POTTER, BACK TO TURNER, GOAL! GOOD BALL MOVEMENT FROM GRYFFINDOR, AS THEY'RE GETTING BACK INTO FORM. NOW IT'S THE KEEPER ALLEN WITH THE PASS, INTERCEPTED BY TURNER! ANOTHER GOAL! THE DEFICIT IS 30, JUST LIKE THAT!" _

The Gryffindor side roared as Will pumped his arms, encouraging them to get loud.

_"NOW ITS THOMAS GAINING BACK POSSESSION! HE'LL GIVE IT TO POTTER, WHO SCORES EASILY! THE PASS INTERCPETED AGAIN BY TURNER! ANOTHER GOAL! GRYFFINDOR TAKES A 10 POINT LEAD!"_

The Gryffindor Chasers were moving so fast that Goldstein couldn't keep up.

_"NOW GRYFFINDOR UP BY 50 POINTS, THEY'RE IN CONTROL! HUFFLEPUFF WITH NO FIGHT LEFT IN THEM! AND POTTER HAS SEEN THE SNITCH AGAIN! HE DIVES TO THE GROUND, WARD FOLLOWING HIM! OH! IT WAS A FEINT! GREAT FAKE! POTTER BACK THE OTHER WAY, AND NOW IT'S REAL! WARD WAS LEFT IN THE DUST! POTTER CATCHES THE SNITCH! GRYFFINDOR WINS!"_

The Gryffindors roared, and began to rush the field.

/

Will POV:

It was over. We had won. Despite that shaky start, we had pulled one out, and we were just a win away from the title!

The team engulfed each other, and we came to the ground around Al, congratulating him. I walked off a little ways as all of Al's relatives surrounded him.

Suddenly I saw Ashley running towards me, a huge smile on her face. I didn't even think about it. When she reached me, I just kissed her. The noise was gone, and we were in a different world for a few seconds.

When we broke apart, everyone had gathered around us. Then Al came into the middle, and yelled, "Party in the Common Room!" And everybody ran upwards towards the castle.

Al slapped me on the back and ran after them. I noticed Devon next to me.

"Blimey!" He said, sounding hurt. "Didn't say a word to me, did you? Just went right to him!" He laughed, and Ashley punched him in the stomach. Doubled over, he walked back up with us to the castle, still laughing.

/

"Why would you even trust her? You barely know her!" Shouted Caitlin, standing outside the portrait hole. She had headed me off at the entrance, and demanded Ashley leave so she could speak to me.

"I do know her, very well, actually." I struggled to keep my voice calm, knowing that I didn't want to fight right now.

"You don't! You trust her! You trust everybody! You're just going to get hurt." She said angrily.

"Why don't you put aside your anger and try to be a little supportive. I can do whatever I like, and while I'd like you to be supportive, I really won't let your negativity influence me. You need to think about what you just said. Is that how you want to be? Is that how you want to live? Like that?" My voice was steady, my argument calm.

Just then, Al walked around the corner and stumbled upon us. Caitlin stormed into the Common Room angrily.

"What was that about, mate?" he asked, concerned. I told him.

"Don't worry, she'll come 'round. Congrats, anyway."

"Thanks, man."

I walked back through the portrait hole, trying to hide my thoughts from the many people attempting to congratulate me.

**What'd you guys think? Send a review, please! Thanks to all of my regular reviewers for keeping it up! Please continue to send me suggestions and critiques! I had a lot of fun writing this chapter, Quidditch is fun to write. Anyway, review, and keep reading!**


	18. Right in Your Own Backyard

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**Chapter 18: Right in Your Own Backyard**

Caitlin POV:

"You have to tell them!" I said.

"I'm a big boy, I can deal with it," replied Will.

We were in the Great Hall, preparing for a trip to Hogsmeade, and I was trying to convince Will to tell a teacher about Malfoy and his thugs beating him up.

"What if it happens again?"

"In a fair fight, I would kick Malfoy's ass. And all of his friends."

"Then that's not much incentive for them to fight fair, is it?"

He pondered for a second, and then said,

"That's true. But I'll also be better prepared next time. They won't have a chance. You don't have to worry."

"How can you be sure?"

"I can't." He said, and kept eating his breakfast.

"So…"

"I can't," he said again, still not looking up. "Sometimes you just have to believe in yourself. You have to trust."

Ashley chose that moment to walk up to us, kiss him on the cheek, and sit down with us.

With a roll of my eyes, I got up and headed out the Great Hall. Already, a group of students was gathering around Filch, waiting for him to let them go. I found Sydney, and together we waited until we were allowed to leave.

We had walked about half of the way when Fred came up behind Sydney and put his arm around her. James soon draped his arm around my shoulder, thoroughly, annoying me.

"Slick." I commented dryly, shoving him off of me.

"Only a joke, Mrs. Raincloud! Lighten up a bit! We're in…Hogsmeade," he said dramatically, gesturing around us at the small town.

"Where anything can happen!" said Fred joyfully.

"Anything at all! Find yourself-" said James.

"-Look deep within-" Fred cut in again.

"-Let loose-"

"-Where love blossoms!" Fred finished snidely.

"You two are _extremely_ fucking full of it." I said, still angry about breakfast.

"And you are _extremely_ put out today!" James commented with mock surprise.

"Yeah, what's on your, mind, sweetheart?" Said Fred in a bad American accent.

My necklace went from orange to blood red.

"Oh, calm down. Your always mad." James said dismissively.

"Wonder why." I said out of the corner of my mouth. However, there was some truth to what he said. I was increasingly moody this past week.

I just felt that Will had betrayed me to some extent. And now he was spending much more time with a different girl. Weren't we supposed to stick together?

James continued to pretend like I was friends with him. Which I was, I guess. I just didn't like him. Everyone assumed things around us. They were always looking, always making comments. It got to the point that I just tried to avoid him.

_That'll be hard today_, I thought wryly.

As we neared the center of town, Fred said, "Hey Syd, want to grab a drink?"

"Um…sure, of course." Sydney replied politely. I could see her neck and ears turn red as they walked away from us into the Three Broomsticks.

"Well then." Said James and I at the same time. I gave him an odd look. He shrugged.

"Where's your brother?" asked James to break the silence.

"Where's your brother?" I replied smartly.

"Probably hanging around with that girl from Ravenclaw. Why?"

I shook my head in frustration and walked into the nearest shop. I found myself in a dusty old store with an insane amount of dusty books and scrolls.

I immediately started coughing, and became overwhelmed. James, who had followed me in there, grabbed me and took me back outside.

"Thanks." I breathed.

We sat there in the early February snow in silence. After a while, James asked,

"Want to go spy on Sydney and Fred?"

"No…that's horrible!" I had been thinking the same exact thing.

He gave me a knowing look.

"Alright, fine." We walked back across the street, heading towards the Three Broomsticks. It was then that I heard a bloodcurdling, earth-rattling scream.

/

Will POV:

"They saw them in Weston? That's not too far from here!" Ashley said, with worry in her voice.

I put down my paper, across which a headline read:

**Two Inferi sightings in Northern Britain**

"I bet it's fine. If there was any reason to worry, they would be publishing much more about this. Also, Al would have heard something from his father, and as far as I know, he hasn't."

"I guess," she said halfheartedly. "Well then, you ready?"

"Absolutely. Let's go."

We headed out down the road to Hogsmeade, a bit later than most of the other students. It was a peaceful day, although slightly cold. We walked in silence, gazing across the snow-capped mountains as we headed to Hogsmeade.

"So where should we go?" asked Ashley brightly.

"I don't know. Haven't really been here much. Care to show me around?"

"Sure."

We stopped in front of Honeydukes. "Could really use some candy." I remarked, and we went in.

I bought a few Chocolate Frogs, some gum, and a few jelly slugs. For Ashley I bought an Acid Pop and a large Fizzing Whizbee. We sat outside on a bench, eating our candy happily, when a loud shriek rang through the air.

"What was that?" I asked Ashley. "It came from over there. What's down there?"

"The Shrieking Shack." Replied Ashley. "Wait, Will!"

She grabbed my arm, but I shook her off and broke into a run over the hill, with her close behind me.

"Wait! Will-" We both stopped running as we reached the top. What we saw down by the Shack was too horrible for words.

Five Inferi were advancing quickly on three terrified-looking third years. The third years continued to shriek, as they stumbled up the slope towards us.

"We have to help them!" Yelled Ashley.

"No shit!" I yelled back, running down the hill. "Aim for the head!"

"Got it!"

We ran down the hill, aiming Stunning Spells at the Inferi. I noticed a few more Inferi advancing on us from the tree line about thirty yards away.

The Stunning Spells hit home, to little or no effect.

"Run!" I told the third years. They stumbled, and one fell down in the snow.

Before we could get there, two of the Inferi were on him. He screamed and thrashed against them. I saw one bite into his neck, and another bit into his leg.

Dangers forgotten, I leaped at both of them, tackling them and knocking them off of him. They were only temporarily dispatched. One of the others advanced on me where I was, lying in the snow.

"Relashio!" yelled Ashley, and the Inferius' hands retracted. I scrambled up, counting the threats. There were two Inferi advancing on Ashley and I, two getting up from the snow, one chasing a third year up the hill, and another four advancing from twenty yards away.

I saw a tree branch lying on the ground, and had a new idea. Concentrating hard, I used all of my transfiguration knowledge. Studying had paid off.

Now on the ground lay a wicked-looking hatchet. With three fluid movements, I picked it up and dispatched of the two Inferi advancing on us. I rushed over to the third year lying in the snow, blood pooling around him.

The two Inferi I had knocked down were now up and about to bite into him again. This made them easy targets for me, and I planted my hatchet in the backs of their heads with ease.

I saw the third year on top of the hill slip and fall. The Inferius on her back fell with her, biting into her ankle hard. I scrambled back up to them and felled the Inferius with a swing.

She screamed in pain.

"Where did your friend go?" I asked frantically.

"To-to get help!" She said, sobbing.

"Will!" screamed Ashley.

I turned around to see the four remaining Inferi cornering Ashley by the other boy's body. She was trying to protect him.

A mad anger surged through my veins as I slid down the hill with reckless abandonment. I beheaded two of them, but was tripped by another one and ended up on the ground.

The Inferius lunged at me, its spittle and blood spraying on my face. Adrenaline took over and I threw it off of me. I rolled over and impaled it in the brain with the spike end of my hatchet.

However, the other one grabbed me, knocking my weapon out of my hand. I felt an ironic sense of déjà vu as I struggled with its strong arms, trying to wrestle it off of me. We rolled over once, me avoiding its mouth at all costs.

I felt its nails in my neck, digging in, causing blood to spill. I screamed, and then a figure barreled into it, knocking it down.

James got up and began stomping on it. In a flash I was up, stomping on its head with my boot. It became squashed, and before long the last of the Inferi were still.

Disregarding my own wounds, and Caitlin standing there, speechless, I rushed over to Ashley.

"I'm fine. Take care of the others."

I observed the carnage quickly. There were eleven bodies, but two were still alive.

"James!" I yelled.

"Yeah!" he yelled over the wind, which had begun to howl.

"Take the girl! I'll take him. Get them up to the castle!"

"Got it."

"Caitlin." I said, coming up to her.

"Yes." She said in a small voice.

"Take care of Ashley, please. Make sure she's okay. If you see any others, scream and run."

She nodded, jaw set in determination.

I took the boy on the ground, who was now gurgling blood, in my arms. He was surprisingly light, and had lost a lot of blood.

Together, James and I ran up to the castle. We got to the Hospital Wing, and yelled for Madam Pomfrey.

She came out of her office, and gaped at us.

Under other circumstances, the look would have been priceless.

/

Caitlin POV:

"You can't let them stay there!" yelled Will.

"Mr. Turner! Don't raise your voice. You'll have to see Professor McGonagall, and she'll be here as soon as possible."

"That's not good enough! One is already dead, and the other is dying! They'll come back! I seen it happen!"

"Stop talking nonsense, boy!"

And she shut the door in our face. Will raised his hands in defeat.

"They'll kill her!" He said helplessly.

"How does it happen?" asked James.

"They get bit, the fever hits, they die, and they come back….as those dead things."

"Oh…" said James, for once at loss for words.

"Yep." Said Will. "That's what's gonna happen. And she's locked herself in there with them."

"Where's McGonagall?" I asked.

"Hogsmeade. I'll have to run and get her. This can't wait."

"Didn't Pomfrey tell her that a kid died?"

"Nope. Says it's not definite yet."

"I saw that kid." Said James. "That kid was dead."

"I know. I'll be back."

And Will ran off down the hallway, leaving us alone outside of the Hospital Wing.

After a while, James chuckled.

"What?" I asked.

He turned to me. "What a shitty first date." He said with a smirk.

I laughed, and ten realized what he had said.

"Wait-what?" It was then that we heard a scream from inside the Hospital Wing.

**Cliffhanger! Please Review! Sorry for not updating, I've been busy, but school's almost over so I can update during the break. Tell me what you guys thought! Thanks a lot!**


	19. Chemical

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**Chapter 19: Chemical**

Caitlin POV:

I banged on the door, trying to get in, but to no avail. If what Will said was true, she had only seconds before they began to attack her.

"Step aside, sweetheart." Said James flirtatiously before ramming broom handle through the crack of the door. Only he could be snide at a time like this.

The doors creaked open as James and I worked together to pry them apart. Inside, we saw Madam Pomfrey backing up against the wall as a small, undead child advanced on her, teeth bared.

James froze, but this time I knew what I had to do. I grabbed the broom James had used and rammed the third year over the head with it.

It fell to the ground. Again and again I rammed it, attempting to squash its head, but the broom was too blunt. I spotted a small knife on the table next to one of the beds.

Picking it up in a rush, I jammed it into the Inferius' skull. It shuddered and did not move. Looking down at the corpse, I saw the face of a young boy, one that I had seen often in the common room. I did not know his name.

I began to cry. The monstrosity of what I had done hit me in one huge wave, crashing over me like a tsunami. Tears streamed down my face as James gripped me tight, trying to comfort me.

I registered Madam Pomfrey's face in the corner of the room, white as a sheet, shell-shocked.

"Caitlin!" Yelled Will as he barreled back into the room. "Did you get bit?"

"No." I replied sullenly, gesturing at the body. "I had to. I had to. You have to believe me. I had to."

"We know." Said James, gripping me tighter. "You did the right thing."

"What in the name of Merlin is going on here?" Said Professor McGonagall, striding into the room regally.

"I had to." I muttered continuously.

"Professor," said James, speaking up, "Madam Pomfrey can fill you in. Right now Caitlin needs rest, and something for shock."

I nodded, and so did Will.

"Very well, Ms. Turner, go to the Hos- well, I guess you are already here. Poppy, I will need to see you in my office immediately after you tend to her."

I climbed into a bed and waited for Pomfrey to give me a shock potion. I noticed that she wouldn't look me in the eye. When she was done, she left, leaving Will, James, and I, alone.

"Are you sure you're okay?" asked Will. He looked very mad, probably because Pomfrey hadn't listened to him.

"I'm fine."

"Alright, I'm going to go see if Ashley's okay. Then I'm going to go up to McGonagall and see what we're going to do about," he lowered his voice, "That one."

The other bitten student lay in the corner, asleep. She had only been bit on her ankle, and suffered nothing more than blood loss for now.

"I'll stay right here." Said James as Will left.

"I'm fine. You don't have to-"

"Yes, I do have to. Damn!" He actually looked angry now. "When will you start accepting the help others offer you? You need to learn to trust some people, you know?"

And he plopped himself down on a chair, still looking put out.

I was silent for a long time. Then, I said quietly, "We accept the love we think we deserve."

It was a quote I remembered from a Muggle book I had read when we lived in New York. It seemed so long ago.

We sat there in amiable silence for a while. James didn't seem so angry anymore. Then, when I was just about to say something, he leaned in and kissed me.

The kiss was soft, and though I don't like to admit it, it was nice. We broke apart after a few seconds.

"I'm sor-" He began, but then he noticed my necklace.

It had ditched its usual bright-red shade, and softened to a soft pink.

I didn't need to say anything. He just smiled.

/

Will POV:

I ran upstairs to the Gryffindor Common Room.

"Are you okay?" Yelled Al, Ashley, and Rose, at the same time, rushing up to me.

"I'm fine." I said grimly. "Caitlin-not so much."

"What happened?" They asked, almost yelling.

"She had to kill one of them. In the Hospital Wing. She's pretty shaken."

"Are they—dead?" asked Rose.

"Dead or dying." I said, still grim. "Speaking of which, I need to go see McGonagall about this. We don't have much time."

"Ok, but come back soon." Said Ashley.

"Yeah, sure." I was growing tired of people trying to protect me. Especially when it turned out that they were just being stupid. Like the whole Pomfrey thing. I mean, how was it possible that the most well trained nurse on the face of the planet didn't know about Inferi bites?

I reached the statue of the Griffin, and after saying the password, walked in.

"The Turner boy was right." Madam Pomfrey was saying. "I had no idea. They come back. It—jus terrible."

"Yeah," I added quite hopefully. "The _Turner boy_ was right. Maybe next time we should take his advice."

"Stop it, Mr. Turner. It doesn't matter anymore." Said Professor McGonagall. Once McGonagall told you to do something, you did it, so I shut up.

"Now, I would like you to tell me what happened exactly that resulting in the death of a student!"

I went through the whole story, and finally came to the girl who had been bitten in the ankle.

"So she's gonna die any second, and we need to get down there and stop her from getting loose!"

"How long does it take?" asked Pomfrey.

"I don't know! I'm not the expert!"

"Yes, you are, Mr. Turner, and you better come to terms with that fast. Now lead the way to the Hospital Wing."

I gazed at McGonagall for a second, and then began to walk to the Hospital Wing.

/

Caitlin POV:

I was actually happy. For the first time in a long time. Some part of me felt guilty for not talking to Will, so he would understand, but another part just told me that I deserved this.

We were just talking, and laughing, but some part of it must have been obvious, because when Will walked in, he said,

"About damn time."

I looked towards the doorway to see him grinning at me. Was it that obvious?

He began to walk towards us, and that was when I saw the girl move. At once I knew that something was wrong.

Will hadn't noticed her. He continued to look at us. The girl was now standing. McGonagall and Pomfrey were still outside. The girl was right behind him now, reaching out, skin already coarse and grey…

I grabbed my wand and aimed right behind Will. For a second he looked confused, and then it dawned on him. He ducked, and I fired a curse right at the Inferius.

"REDUCTO!" The Inferius flew across the room and landed on the ground, still.

Pomfrey and McGonagall rushed in, covering their noses immediately at the smell. They quickly examined the girl.

McGonagall turned to me, an odd expression on my face. The necklace had switched from pink to green.

"Well, Ms. Turner, it would appear that we are once again in your debt. Please leave while we deal with this problem."

James, Will, and I left the Hospital Wing, hurrying back to the Common Room, wanting to get away from everything that had happened. Will shot me a knowing glance every now and then.

When we got to the portrait hole, all of us stopped. Then Will turned to me.

"Thanks for having my back out there." He said with a grin.

"Well, that's what I'm here for."

"Yeah, right. Well, go have fun guys."

We started to go through the portrait hole, when he said, "But not too much fun!"

I groaned as Will and James laughed.

This was going to be interesting.

**Okay, so it's short, but a lot of things are happening. The ending should come around Chapter 25-30. That's as specific as I'll be, but I will say that I am planning the sequel. Sorry for the update time! Been really busy! Will try to write more. Please suggest things! Thanks! Review! Thanks!**


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